


Missing Salva

by Not_Listening



Series: Sexy Weird [2]
Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Conspiracies, F/F, Implied/Referenced Torture, JUST LET THEM BE HAPPY, Scylla's now a part of the unit, Soulmates, The unit is a family, the return of Beltane bc i love it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:13:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 51,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23979550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_Listening/pseuds/Not_Listening
Summary: Nearly 8 months have passed since Alder's arrest, and Raelle has never been happier. Her unit has become like family, and she's falling more in love with Scylla everyday. Life is good.But with the announcement of Alder's replacement, Raelle is dragged into the middle of a conspiracy involving the Spree attacks and the organization's real motives. And why does everyone seem so concerned with Raelle and Scylla's bond all of the sudden?The unit's trust in the military is further tested, and they are forced to choose between following their orders and following their instincts.
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Series: Sexy Weird [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728937
Comments: 223
Kudos: 620





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, it's a sequel!! to be clear, the updates will probably be slower on this one, just because I'm currently in the process of writing this story. 
> 
> Thanks so much for the support, comment if you enjoy!!

Raelle breathed heavily as she crouched against the training mat. Her scourge was held tightly in her right hand, and a few beads of sweat dripped down the side of her face. 

“Had enough, Collar?” a smug voice called from above her. Raelle looked up at her opponent and grinned. 

“Oh, not nearly,  _ Ramshorn. _ ” she said, gritting her teeth and propelling herself forward, lashing out her leg as she did so. Scylla’s eyes widened as she was swept off her feet and landed hard against the mat. 

Seeing Raelle’s scourge coming down towards her, she let out a grunt as she rolled to the side and lifted herself into a crouch. Looking up at her girlfriend, she rolled her eyes at the shit-eating grin the girl wore as she brandished her scourge. “Had enough?” she asked, smiling wickedly. 

Scylla sighed. “Whatever,” she scoffed, holding out her hand for Raelle to help her up. “Let’s take five.” 

Raelle’s smile softened as she lowered her scourge and grabbed Scylla’s hand. Their eyes met, and Raelle realized her mistake as she noticed the glint in her girlfriend’s eyes and the mischievous smile that split across her face.

“Scylla, wait--” she tried to jerk her hand back, only for Scylla to hold on tighter and pull Raelle roughly down towards her. 

Raelle winced as she lost her balance and fell, careening towards Scylla. She caught herself at the last minute, her hands braced against the mat on either side of Scylla's head as she met her gaze. 

“What’s your plan, now, beautiful?” Raelle said, smirking. “I’ve got you pinned.” 

Scylla didn’t respond, simply smiling at Raelle. Raelle recognized that look and furrowed her brows. Before she could react, Scylla had grabbed her sides and thrown her against the mat in a complicated maneuver that Scylla executed effortlessly. 

Raelle was left breathless against the mat, staring up at Scylla in shock. Scylla now had her pinned. Her girlfriend grinned down at her, one arm braced next to Raelle’s head to support herself, the other grabbing Raelle’s hands and pinning them to the mat above her head.

They stared at each other, both breathing heavily as Scylla grinned in triumph. “What’s  _ your _ plan?” she asked smugly, but Raelle could hear that her voice had become a bit lower. Raspier. 

Raelle’s eyes began to glaze over slightly as she looked at the girl in amazement. “If we don’t kiss, right now, immediately,” she said breathlessly. “I think I might die.”

Scylla chuckled, rolling her eyes. “So dramatic.” she said, leaning down and pressing her lips against Raelle’s. 

Raelle moved up towards her, meeting Scylla halfway and returning the kiss with desperation and passion. 

Scylla smirked into the kiss as Raelle began to struggle in Scylla’s hold, trying to get closer to the girl. Scylla responded by tightening her grip on Raelle’s wrists, pushing them harder against the mat and pulling away from the kiss, looking down at Raelle teasingly. 

Raelle’s eyes were unfocused as Scylla pulled back, her head still hovering slightly above the mat where she had met Scylla’s kiss. 

Just as Scylla couldn’t help herself anymore and was about to return to the kiss, the sound of footsteps entering the room interrupted her as she leaned down. 

“Collar, Ramshorn.” Anacostia called over to them. “I believe I told you that you were supposed to be practicing scourge combat.” 

Raelle and Scylla looked up at her, eyes widening as they realized the position they were both still sitting in. 

They scrambled off the mat, Scylla swallowing hard as she placed her hands behind her back. Raelle cleared her throat, running her fingers through her hair awkwardly as she tried to straighten it.

Anacostia raised an eyebrow. “You girls have been improving over the past few months, but don’t expect to get any better if you keep letting yourselves get distracted.”

Raelle blushed, giving Anacostia a small nod. Scylla nodded as well, but she still didn’t look the least bit remorseful, even smirking slightly. Anacostia fixed Scylla with a glare as she noticed her look. 

Before she could discipline the two anymore, the sound of Abigail’s voice interrupted them, echoing from the entrance of the training room. “Did the two of them start making out again when they were supposed to be training?” she said flatly, rolling her eyes as she entered the room. Tally followed close behind, giggling slightly at Raelle’s red face. 

Raelle choked a little while Scylla simply smiled. 

Abigail rolled her eyes, walking over to the lockers and grabbing her and Tally’s scourges. 

“I’ll bet you two are looking forward to Beltane.” Tally said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows at the two. 

Raelle said nothing, staring pointedly at the ground, but Scylla nodded shamelessly, a wicked smile splitting her face. 

Anacostia rolled her eyes slightly as Abigail returned to the group, handing Tally her scourge, and looking over at Anacostia. 

“Get into pairs, girls.” she commanded. She glared when Scylla and Raelle immediately glanced over at each other. “Not you two,” she said sternly. “You never take it seriously, and you train together enough as it is. Bellweather, go with Collar. Craven, you’re with Ramshorn.” 

The girls all nodded, separating and beginning to spar with their partners.

Raelle began to fall into a familiar rhythm with Abigail, ducking her strikes easily and whipping her scourge around to meet them. Abigail flowed just as easily, effortlessly twirling her scourge and dodging Raelle’s swift swings. 

Raelle felt her mind begin to wander as she sparred, thinking about all that had happened recently. 

Beltane was coming up again, which meant that it had been almost 8 months since Raelle had been taken by the Spree and made into a weapon. Since Alder was exposed and subsequently arrested. Since she and Scylla had connected. 

After the events that took place that day, time seemed to pass in a blur. Alder was arrested, and Scylla was set free on probation. The Bellweather unit finished basic training under the leadership of Anacostia as the witch council debated on a new leader to replace Alder.

However, instead of going off to War College as they had planned, Anacostia offered them another opportunity. 

She agreed that they were an incredibly efficient unit, and that they were miles ahead of most cadets that had graduated basic. She asked that they stay in Fort Salem and work under Anacostia as a strike team. They would operate as a highly effective covert group, executing orders from Anacostia personally. 

While Anacostia had presented this opportunity because of their talent as a unit, Raelle had a sneaking suspicion that Anacostia had become fond of them over their time together. 

She had even extended an invitation to Scylla, albeit begrudgingly, at Raelle’s insistence. Raelle argued that Scylla had helped take down Alder as much as any of them, if not more. She also mentioned the connection of their powers. That had caught Anacostia’s attention. 

So, Scylla joined their little team, and they began to train under Anacostia. They had group sessions working on hand-to-hand combat, scourge training, vocal lessons, and everything they needed to be an effective team.

Raelle and Scylla also had individual training sessions with Anacostia, further exploring how their powers worked together and how they were bonded. Raelle taught Scylla how to use her new healing powers, and Scylla explained how Raelle could now interact with the dead in various ways.

Aside from their new abilities, what was really remarkable was how the connection had changed their seeds and their standard magic.

While they were both powerful as individuals, when they vocalized together, the effect was instantaneous. The seeds were incredibly powerful. When they had joined together to perform a small windstrike, they had almost taken out the entire back wall of the building. Cracks formed in the bricks, and Anacostia stumbled back from the impact, looking at the two in alarm.

Raelle and Scylla were just as mystified, but over time they were able to cooperate and gain control. Across multiple training sessions, they were learning how to best connect their powers to get the most power out of a seed, or how to dial it back enough in order to avoid significant damage or harm to others. 

Mostly, over these months, Raelle found herself falling deeper and deeper in love with Scylla. When they used their powers together, the feeling was indescribable. She felt  _ free _ when she connected with Scylla, and she suspected the other girl felt the same. When they sang together, it was like reliving that first night over and over again. Flying through the air, high on salva, too lost in each other’s eyes to ever want to return to the ground.

And Beltane was coming up. Raelle smiled at the thought. Scylla hadn’t been able to attend last year, but this year? They were totally going. 

The sudden and sharp sound of a whistle interrupted Raelle’s thoughts. She jerked her head up at Anacostia, falling into position next to her unit partners and waiting for Anacostia’s order. 

“Go clean yourselves up, team.” she said, smiling slightly at how good they had looked in training today. With a start, Raelle realized that they had almost been training for an hour now. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had just gone through the motions, falling into a routine. Anacostia continued. “We’re meeting with the witch council today. I need to show how effective this team can be. If you can pass this evaluation, then you can finally go into the field as a real covert unit, ladies.” 

Abigail smiled in pride, and Tally was almost shaking with excitement. Scylla allowed a small smile to spread across her face. Raelle glanced over at her teammates and gave them a genuine smile. 

Life was good. She was surrounded by sisters she loved, and who loved her. As much as Raelle had been through over the past year, she would do it all again to stay with these witches. They had become like family to her, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

“Meet me outside the barracks in two hours, ladies.” she told them, letting her own small smile appear. “Make me proud.”

It was a dismissal, and Raelle chuckled as Tally practically ran out of the room, grabbing everyone’s arm and hauling them out the door.

They all laughed as they began walking to their quarters, all excited for the evaluation. “Did you see Ramshorn today in training?” Abigail said, raising her eyebrows as Scylla ducked her head slightly in embarrassment. “She was a beast. Every time I looked over, Tally was getting her ass handed to her.”

Tally pouted as Raelle released a loud laugh. “Hey, that’s not fair.” she protested, raising her voice over their laughter. “She was all charged up because her and Raelle were  _ making out  _ before training.” 

Raelle blushed furiously as she shoved Tally. Abigail laughed louder when Scylla wiggled her eyebrows and smiled. “What can I say?” Scylla said, shrugging. 

Abigail rolled her eyes, a knowing smile spread across her face. “Please,” she said, grabbing Scylla’s shoulder and pushing her into Raelle. “You two were totally about to have sex before we walked in.” 

Tally roared with laughter as Raelle shoved her face into Scylla’s shoulder, blushing even harder. Scylla chuckled, wrapping her arm around Raelle as they walked. 

“Guys, please,” she said, glancing over at Tally and Abigail with a shameless grin. “You’re embarrassing her.”

“You’re all terrible people.” Raelle mumbled.

Thankfully for Raelle, they had finally arrived at their quarters. 

Since they had graduated basic, they had been moved to the living quarters in the main building, along with Scylla, as she couldn’t very well stay in the necro dorms. 

Their quarters were a joint suite, two bedrooms connected with a small bathroom equipped with two shower stalls and two sinks. 

Obviously Raelle and Scylla had taken one room while Tally and Abigail had taken the other. That was how they separated now, Raelle and Scylla retreating into the left doorway while the others entered the right. “We call the first showers, horndogs!” Abi called as they separated, and Scylla chuckled. 

They entered their room, and Raelle immediately collapsed dramatically onto her bed. The room was similar to the one from basic, although instead of bunks, there were simply two twin beds pushed up against opposite walls. 

Scylla laughed as she watched Raelle, and Raelle couldn’t help but be entranced by her laughter. Scylla noticed her staring, smiling mischievously at her girlfriend. 

She approached Raelle’s bed, hopping onto the mattress and propping herself up above Raelle. She smiled as Raelle met her eyes. 

“What do you say we continue what we started in training, hm?” Scylla whispered huskily, leaning down and kissing Raelle’s neck. 

Raelle leaned into her touch, her breath catching as she felt Scylla’s lips on her skin. Chills went up her arms as Scylla smiled, teeth grazing over Raelle’s bare skin. 

After a few more moments of Scylla teasing her, Raelle couldn’t take it anymore. 

She abruptly grabbed Scylla’s collar as she was leaning down to continue, smashing her lips against Scylla’s. Scylla smiled as Raelle kissed her hungrily, and she quickly conceded, kissing her back and melting into her touch. 

Raelle almost groaned when Scylla reached her hands under her shirt, her long fingers creeping along her abdomen. 

Her hand brushed over the raised skin of her stomach, where the rune was still engraved in her skin, and Raelle's eyes shot open suddenly. She tensed and pulled away from the kiss, scrambling out from under Scylla and curling within herself. 

Scylla watched in confusion and alarm as Raelle retreated, eyes glazing over as she muttered under her breath over and over. 

Scylla’s expression became pained as she realized what was happening. Breathing a sigh, she reached her hand out to grab Raelle’s shoulder, only for the girl to pull back at the contact. 

Scylla flinched a little bit at the girl’s reaction, before collecting herself. It wasn’t  _ her _ Raelle was afraid of. Her girlfriend wasn’t herself right now. 

Scylla sighed before glancing up at Raelle’s panicked face, tracing an ‘S’ onto her palm. 

Raelle froze at the sensation on her palm. Her breathing began to even out as she looked at the ‘S.’ 

Scylla allowed her to take some time, waiting patiently for Raelle to realize where she was. When the time did come, her heart almost broke at the unshed tears in Raelle’s eyes when she looked up at her. “I’m sorry, Scyl, I don’t know what came over me--” she began to desperately explain, her words coming out rapid and almost unintelligible. 

Scylla interrupted her with a fierce hug, wrapping her arms around Raelle’s quivering form. “Of course it’s okay, Rae.” she told her. “You have nothing to apologize for.” 

Raelle returned her hug, breathing heavily and nodding quietly. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Raelle finally pulled away, giving Scylla an unreadable look. 

It was at times like this that Scylla missed their emotional bond. While they still had a bond, it was weakened after Alder. The strengthening spell that they had put on it had always been temporary, but that hadn’t prepared Scylla for the numb feeling she had felt when the bond had suddenly disappeared a few weeks after the events in Alder’s office. 

She remembered desperately running over to Raelle’s barracks, only to meet Raelle halfway as the girl was sprinting to find Scylla. 

They had collapsed on the sidewalk, hugging each other and recovering from the sudden loss of their emotional connection.

Raelle’s grip on her hand brought her back to the present to find Raelle giving her a concerned look. “Where’d you go?” she asked. 

Scylla smiled and shook her head. “Nowhere.” she said, leaning forward and pressing her lips to Raelle’s softly and lovingly. 

Raelle gave her a small smile as Scylla pulled back. Scylla could still see the uncertainty in her eyes, though. 

Scylla ran her hand up Raelle’s arm comfortingly. “It’s okay, Rae.” she said softly. “This is normal. You went through a lot.” 

Raelle swallowed and nodded. 

Scylla was about to say more when Tally opened the door to the bathroom. She peeked her head out into the room, her hand pressed firmly over her eyes as she did so. “Shower’s open, you guys,” she said before quickly retreating into the bathroom once again, closing the door behind her. 

Raelle and Scylla chuckled before Raelle sighed and stood from the bed, stretching her arms. “Alright,” she said, grabbing a change of clothes from her drawer. “I’m going to go shower. Would you care to join?” Raelle said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she walked towards the bathroom door. 

Scylla chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Save it for Beltane, Collar.” she said. “I’ll use the  _ other  _ shower, thank you.” 

Raelle shrugged. “Suit yourself, beautiful,” she said, winking at Scylla as she entered the bathroom. 

Scylla chuckled, collapsing back against the bed after Raelle had left the room. 

She had never felt more content in her life. This unit had become family, and she was so completely and utterly in love with Raelle. She was even starting to grow fond of Anacostia. 

Wow, she was going soft. 

However, as she thought about Raelle and her sisters, she smiled. Maybe going soft wasn’t the worst thing in the world. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit has their evaluation, and the test is...surprising 
> 
> Afterwards, the unit has a sleepover.

The unit found Anacostia waiting for them in front of the barracks, just as she had said. She gave them a small nod as they approached, all dressed in their gear. They each looked at Anacostia, communicating that they were ready for the evaluation. 

Anacostia smiled, a bit of pride showing on her face. It was rare that Anacostia ever threw them a bone, much less actually look proud of them. It was unheard of. 

Tally couldn’t help the smile that creeped up on her face at Anacostia’s look. It was infectious and soon the whole unit was grinning at Anacostia knowingly. 

Anacostia rolled her eyes. “Don’t push it, ladies.” she said, turning around and moving towards the black car that was waiting for them. 

Raelle’s smile dropped as her unit began approaching the car. Suddenly, she was back to that day so many months ago, when she had trusted Anacostia and followed her into a similar black car. When she had let her guard down. 

“Sergeant,” she called to Anacostia. The sergeant turned, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, Collar?” she asked expectantly. 

She wanted to ask the woman a question, something only she would know, but the words seemed to catch in her throat. Anacostia’s eyes narrowed as Raelle struggled to ask what she wanted. 

Her unit turned, giving her a confused look, and suddenly Raelle felt ridiculous. She was being paranoid and ridiculous. 

Scylla met her eyes, and her gaze suddenly filled with understanding. She turned to the Sergeant herself. “Sergeant, what did Raelle wear to Beltane last year?” she asked conversationally.

Anacostia gave her an incredulous look before she realized what was happening, noticing the anxiety showing up on Collar’s face. “A suit.” she said, turning to face Raelle. “You danced with that boy...Byron.” 

Raelle sighed and nodded, moving past them and stepping into the car, followed closely by her unit, who exchanged looks as they entered.

Once everyone had gotten in, the driver began pulling away from the barracks, and Raelle struggled to fight down her anxiety. She fidgeted with her fingers as silence overtook the car. 

Tally sighed and looked up. “So, what exactly are we going to be doing for the evaluation?” she asked Anacostia, glancing over at Raelle as she asked. She was still staring at the floorboard of the car, Scylla running a calming hand up and down her arm.

“It’s hard to say.” Anacostia answered. “They don’t tell me what the test will be beforehand. Most likely it will be a combat situation of sorts, something like that.” 

Everyone nodded. Raelle took a deep breath, starting to feel a bit more relaxed. 

The unit was beginning to get nervous about the test, however, and it was becoming more and more obvious as the car kept driving. Even Abigail, who was normally stone-cold when it came to these things, was fidgeting slightly as the car began to pull up the driveway of an official-looking building. 

“This is where the witch council resides.” Anacostia explained, noticing their questioning looks. “The council decided to hold the test here. They already have it all set up.” 

Raelle glanced over at Abigail. “Your mom is on the council, right?” she asked. 

Abigail nodded. “But it only matters what the other council members think. My mother’s vote will mean nothing if the others disagree. Besides, my mom will only vote for us if she thinks we will actually be effective.” 

Tally swallowed. “Right. That’s reassuring.” 

Abigail shrugged. “That’s Petra Bellweather for you.” she said, a hint of bitterness creeping into voice. 

Silence consumed the car. Raelle could feel that nerves radiating from her teammates. Even Scylla, which was a little surprising. But then again, she had been working just as hard as everyone to make this team work. She was in this just as much as them. 

“Guys, c’mon,” Raelle said, breaking the silence. “We’ve got this, easy. We’ve been working our asses off for nearly half a year now. We’re going to nail this stupid test, right?” 

Everyone looked at her with a bit of shock. Raelle shrunk a little under the attention. “What?” she asked. “I can give pep talks too. It’s not just Abi.” 

Abi laughed, shaking her head. “She’s right.” she said. “We’ve got this, guys.” 

Everyone smiled, nodding. 

As if on cue, the car came to a stop in front of the looming entrance. Everyone looked at the towering wooden doors. “Right, that’s not intimidating at all,” Raelle said. 

“Totally.” 

“Not at all.” 

“That seems like a waste of wood.” 

Raelle snorted at Scylla’s comment, earning her a smile. 

“Enough, ladies,” Anacostia said, stepping out of the car and holding the door open for the unit. “Let’s go.” 

Everyone swallowed before clamoring out of the car. They followed Anacostia to the entrance, where she rested her hand against the wood. She waited a second before knocking out a stilted knock. A code. 

Raelle watched in fascination as Anacostia stepped back, resting her hands behind her back as if waiting for something. The unit did the same, moving their hands behind their backs and matching Anacostia’s posture. 

After a moment, the door finally began to creak open, the towering door swinging past them and revealing the beautiful interior of the building. 

As the unit followed Anacostia inside, the girls struggled to not gaze mindlessly around at the ornate decoration. A large chandelier hung above the, the metal work incredibly intricate. The walls were decorated with large works of arts, and Raelle was shocked to notice that many of them were original pieces. 

She suddenly felt very dirty and poor. 

The unit followed Anacostia through a hallway, leading to a large carpeted room. Anacostia motioned for them to stay after they entered the room. The unit stayed, lining up with straight faces and perfect posture. 

Anacostia separated, moving towards the front of the room where the council was seated behind a long, wooden table. 

“Good afternoon, council,” Anacostia spoke, giving a respectful bow. “Allow me to introduce my unit.” 

She gestured to where the girls were lined up. Raelle struggled not to shrink under the intense gaze of the council. She could see Petra Bellweather fixing her with an intrigued look.

The man at the front of the table glanced at them before looking back at Anacostia. “You think they are ready for combat as a covert team? Your personal team?”

Anacostia nodded, not a hint of hesitation in her eyes. “They are an effective unit, and they will be incredibly useful in taking out big Spree operations without a large conflict.”

Many members nodded their heads thoughtful, looking back at the unit. 

The man narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see about that.” 

Raelle swallowed. 

“Take them to the simulation room.” he told a guard standing at the edge of the table. “Transmit the broadcast to this room. Let’s see just how efficient they can be.” 

The unit stood straighter as the guard escorted them from the room, leading them to a staircase and guiding them downwards. They went down a few flights of stairs until the fancy decorations disappeared from the walls and the ceilings, replaced with cold stone ceilings and concrete walls. 

Raelle almost began to relax. At least she didn’t have to worry about breaking anything super valuable on accident. 

They finally stopped on the bottom floor, the guard leading them to the end of a narrow hallway. They filed down the hallways, trying their best to fight down the nerves that crept up as they got closer and closer to the test.

They finally stopped in front of a large steel door, with a large keypad and screen next to it. Raelle couldn’t make out what the man was typing, but the door began to open after he pressed the final button. 

He finally turned and acknowledged the unit with a straight face. “Your mission is to rescue the target from inside the building. Make sure no harm comes to the target, and take out any Spree agents that come in your way. When you retrieve the target, return them back here.” 

Raelle’e eyes widened. This mission sounded awfully familiar. 

Scylla grabbed her hand subtly, not looking at her but silently sending her comfort. Clearly, she had the same thought process Raelle did at hearing the mission objective. If Tally or Abigail noticed, they showed no visible reaction. 

They probably noticed. 

The unit nodded, approaching the entrance of the door. They couldn’t see the simulation inside, yet. They would only know the environment when they entered.

As they approached the entrance, the guard seemed to linger a bit. “Good luck,” he said finally, stepping away from the keypad. As he walked past, his eyes seemed to linger on Raelle for a bit longer. 

Raelle took a deep breath and ignored it, preparing to enter the test.

Finally, Abigail lifted her hand into the air, signalling for the group to follow her lead. She walked into the simulation and the test began. 

* * *

“No,” Tally muttered. “It can’t be.”

Scylla and Abigail also hesitated at the sight of the building looming in front of them. Raelle narrowed her eyes. She didn’t understand, it just looked like a run-down warehouse.

“What?” she asked everyone. “Let’s go?” 

Her unit turned to look at her in alarm. “You don’t recognize this place?” Scylla asked softly. 

Raelle furrowed her brows. “Should I?” 

Abigail narrowed her eyes. “This is where we found you, Raelle.” she said. “When the Spree took you?” 

Raelle’s eyes widened as she unconsciously rested her hand on her abdomen, where she knew numerous scars were littered, hidden under her shirt. “Oh.” she said quietly. “I only saw the inside.” 

Abigail gave her a hard look. “It’s likely to look the same on the inside, Rae.” she told her. “You’re with us, right?” 

Raelle took a deep breath, looking up at Abigail, determination clear in her eyes. “I’m with you. Let’s do this.” 

Everyone nodded. 

They crouched low, approaching the treeline. They hid behind the trees, peering out at the warehouse where Spree agents were milling about. 

Abigail quickly took count of the enemies waiting outside. “Shit, there’s still ten guys outside.” she told them. 

Raelle cursed. 

“Okay,” Abigail said, hand reaching towards her scourge. “Tally and I will take the guys to the left. You and Scylla flank right and surprise the others. Got it?” 

Everyone nodded, grabbing their scourges. 

“Wait for my signal, okay?” Abi told Scylla and Raelle. “Don’t be afraid to use that bond shit.” 

With that, they separated, Scylla and Raelle quietly creeping along the treeline, their steps silent despite the numerous leaves under their feet. 

They set up across from the right corner of the building. 

Raelle assessed the situation. “Okay, I’ll take the three guys at the front, you take the two guarding the side, got it?” 

Scylla nodded, turning her body to face the side entrance. 

There was a tense moment of silence before a sharp bird call pierced the air and the unit launched into action. 

The Spree agents didn’t know what hit them. Raelle had already taken down two guys by the time the third could even react, and she easily struck out with her scourge, wrapping the whip around the man’s neck. 

She launched him into the side of the building with all her might, releasing a grunt of effort as she did.

She turned to see if Scylla needed any help. She was completely fine, though, having taken down the two agents lightning fast. 

Tally and Abigail fared about the same, and they met at the front of the building. “That was good--” Abigail started, before Tally’s sharp warning cry interrupted her. 

A Spree agent was sprinting towards Abigail, too fast to stop. But, before he could even get within ten feet of Abi, Scylla had stepped forward and thrown the man back into the woods with a strong windstrike. 

The unit looked at her in shock. “What?” she said. “That’s what happened last time, too. Apparently, I was the only one prepared.” 

Abi rolled her eyes. “Okay, Raelle, Scylla, clear out the upstairs floor.” Abigail said. “I have a feeling our target will be in the basement.” she finished, frowning slightly. 

“Okay,” Raelle said quickly, trying not to dwell on it. “Scylla and I will cover you while you head for the stairs.” 

Everyone nodded, and without another moment’s hesitation, they burst through the entrance, Scylla splitting off to the right while Raelle shot off to the left. 

Tally and Abigail listened to the struggle as they rushed for the stairs, their scourges brandished, ready for any sudden attacks. 

As they reached top of the staircase, Abigail struggled to control her nausea. She swallowed, motioning for Tally to follow her. 

They descended the stairs, once again entering a familiar dark hallway. The only difference from the last time they were here being the lack of screams filling the air. 

Abigail could only hope that the council hadn’t been total dicks and copied the situation exactly. With the rune and all that. She wouldn’t want Raelle to react poorly. 

She took a deep breath as her and Tally approached the door. She met eyes with her sister, nodding at her before grabbing the handle and bursting into the room. 

Abigail struggled to control her breathing as she confronted a familiar scene. But, there was a clear difference. Instead of their target sitting alone on the table in the corner, there was a figure hunched above them. 

The figure abruptly turned at the sound of the unit entering. It was a man, this time, a glowing green knife held in his grasp. 

He didn’t hesitate before throwing the knife back on the surgical tray beside the table, launching himself towards the two with a screech, throwing a strong windstrike at the pair. 

Tally reacted immediately singing a low seed and deflecting the windstrike while Abigail ran forward. She allowed her training to take over as she began to fight the man. 

He was skilled, but Abigail had been preparing for this for months now, and his skilled strikes all missed her as she dodged and weaved through his attacks, swinging her scourge through the air and easily taking the man down to the ground. 

Just as she was about to finish the fight and incapacitate the man fully, she froze at the sound of a whimper. “Help!” the girl on the table called. The voice sounded suspiciously like Raelle’s. 

Abigail was almost hypnotized by the sound of her voice, turning to face the table, where she found Raelle gazing back at her. Tally was furiously working on unstrapping her from the table. Abigail couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sight of Raelle’s scared face, her tear-streaked cheeks. 

She glanced down at the girl’s stomach as she began to sit up. It was clean. Her stomach wasn’t bloody, it wasn’t cut up. The skin was unbroken, and Abigail couldn’t help the way her stomach dropped at the sight of Raelle looking up at her, her eyes filled with unshed tears. 

Tally looked up from her work, her eyes widening when she noticed that Abigail was staring. “Abi!” she called. “Focus! What are you doing? Neutralize that threat!” she yelled. 

Abigail struggled to tear her gaze from the table, only turning when she heard threatening footsteps behind her. 

She turned, just in time to find the man brandishing a large knife. There was no time to dodge as he began to strike out with it. It was going to pierce her heart. 

And then the man was thrown across the room. Abigail turned, eyes wide as she looked at Scylla and Raelle running down the stairs, Raelle standing in her windstrike position.

She blanched at Raelle’s concerned expression, rapidly looking back at the Raelle on the table. 

Except, the girl that Tally was helping off the table wasn’t Raelle. She had long, dark hair, and her face was completely different from her sister's. 

“Abigail?” Scylla asked, concerned. Abigail looked over to see her tightly gripping Raelle’s hand. 

Raelle seemed tense beyond belief, squeezing Scylla’s hand so tight, her knuckles turned white. Her eyes darted around the room, and she stiffened at the sight of the table in the corner of the room. The straps that had been undone, and the girl that Tally was helping stand. 

Raelle jerked her head to the ground, forcing herself to look away. “C’mon, we have to get the target out of here.” she choked out through gritted teeth. 

Abigail shook her head, forcing herself to focus as she nodded. “Tally, c’mon.” she said, running to the stairs and motioning for everyone to follow. “Scylla, cover our rear.” 

They unit stayed vigilant as they exited the basement, scourges out and ready. They formed a circle around the target, eventually reaching the door and leaving the building. 

As expected, about five Spree agents sprung out, brandishing knives and other weapons. 

The unit launched into action, immediately meeting the attack. This time, Raelle fought too, and the battle was over as soon as it had started, Spree agents littering the gravel. 

The unit didn’t wait around for another surprise attack, motioning for the target to follow them as they sprinted to where they knew the door to the simulation was. 

They reached the exit, and as soon as they passed through the door frame, the target fizzled out of the air, having been a hologram of sorts. 

The unit came to rest outside the door, breathing heavily and looking around at each other. 

“What the hell was that?” Scylla asked, her jaw clenched in anger. 

The others looked similarly angry, especially Raelle. 

“Ladies,” the guard from before called, grabbing their attention. “If you would follow me?” 

Abigail took a deep breath before nodding. As they walked back up the stairs, she looked over at the others. “Guys, I know we’re angry,” she said in a low voice. “But we can’t afford to comment of the simulation-” 

“Are you serious?” Tally hissed, eyes wide. “That simulation was completely-” 

“I  _ know.” _ Abigail interrupted. “But we can’t ruin this. They set us up for failure, but we still succeeded. Let’s show them that it didn’t affect us at all. We shouldn't give them any other reason to reject us.” 

A tense silence overtook the group after Abigail spoke. Then everyone nodded their agreement. As angry as they were, they needed to control their emotion, project that they were unaffected by the simulation. 

The walk seemed shorter this time around, and before they knew it, they were lined up in front of the council once again. 

The man in the center gave them a smile, a knowing glint in his eye. “What did you think of our simulation?” he asked. 

Anacostia was still standing next to the table, and it was clear that she had also seen the simulation, based on her stiff posture and clenched jaw. 

Abigail stepped forward. “It was excellently programmed, sir.” she said, no expression clear on her face. 

The man’s smile dropped from his face. “No other thoughts?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Any of you?” he looked around at the unit, his eyes lingering on Raelle. 

Her face remained impassive, however. 

She was pretty good at not showing her emotions at this point. 

The unit stayed silent at the question, and that was an answer within itself. 

“Very well,” the man said, sighing. “A vote, then.” 

The rest of the council straightened, preparing their vote. The unit watched in anticipation and nerves as the man picked up his gavel. 

“All those in favor of allowing Quartermaine’s squad to be utilized against the Spree?” 

Out of the twelve council members, Raelle counted nine members that voted for them. Consequently, three members voted against them, including the man who had held the vote. 

The unit released a collective sigh of relief. That was enough, more than the required two-thirds.

The rest of the process passed in a blur, and soon enough, Raelle found herself back in the cramped car, sitting in contemplative silence with her unit and Anacostia. 

“Well,” Tally said suddenly. “We did it.” 

Somehow, no one seemed super excited. 

“Craven is right.” Anacostia spoke, her voice clear and strong, grabbing the attention of everyone in the car. “You girls persevered through everything the council threw at you. I’m proud.” 

The unit looked at her, eyes wide. Anacostia nodded, confirming that yes, she meant it. 

Raelle allowed a small smile to pass across her lips. 

The silence became comfortable as the car drove through the forest, back to Fort Salem. 

Back home. 

* * *

They had a sleepover that night. 

Tally and Abigail crossed over to Raelle and Scylla’s room and they all sat on Raelle’s bed. 

“I completely froze,” Abigail choked out while the others listened with concerned looks. 

“Abi, we all struggled, you didn-” 

“No.” Abigail insisted. “I saw-” 

She took a deep breath. 

“I saw Raelle.” she said, closing her eyes. 

Raelle looked at her with a confused expression, but she didn’t interrupt. She knew that Abi would explain. 

“I saw Raelle.” she repeated. “I saw her on that table again. Except this time, she didn't have that  _ fucking rune-”  _

She stopped, taking in a shuddering breath. “I saw Raelle as I should've seen her that day.” she whispered, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “I should’ve done something. I should've stopped her. Raelle should have never been taken.” 

She finally looked up at the girls, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Raelle reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Abi-” she started. 

“No,” Abigail continues. “I froze because when I saw the target on that table, with no blood, with no rune, completely unharmed, I felt like a failure. I felt like I had failed my sister.” 

Raelle shook her head, launching herself into Abigail and wrapping her arms around the girl. “Abi, stop.” she said, squeezing her tighter. “You’re not a failure. I know you did everything you could. No one could have stopped it.” 

She pulled back, meeting eyes with Abigail. “It’s  _ not  _ your fault, and you’re  _ not  _ a failure.” Raelle told her, voice cracking slightly. “You got me out, Abi. You saved me anyway.” 

Abigail looked at her sister for a second, shocked at how genuine she sounded. Finally, she nodded, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath. 

Scylla and Tally reached out a hand, comforting Abigail as well. 

“You guys don’t know how close I was to losing it.” Raelle said quietly. 

Everyone turned to look at her.

“I saw that damn table” she whispered. “I saw the knife on the tray. I almost killed that man. I almost took down the building. It took  _ so much _ effort to not lose it.” 

Scylla gave her a sympathetic look, leaning over and giving her a tight hug. Tally joined, and then Abigail. 

They stayed like that for a while, and Raelle had never felt more at home than right now. 

They fell asleep in that room, Abigail and Raelle snoring loudly on Raelle’s bed while Scylla and Tally were left sprawled on the other bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a surprising announcement, and people begin to arrive for the Beltane celebration.

The day before Beltane, everyone was called to the auditorium for an important announcement. 

Around 7:00 in the morning, the unit dragged themselves out of bed, awoken by Anacostia loudly banging on their doors and telling them to get their asses over to the auditorium. 

Raelle rubbed her eyes as she stared at herself in the mirror, cringing at how tired she looked. She splashed some water on her face in a useless attempt to wake up, standing back p to find Scylla standing behind her and giving her a loving smile. Raelle returned the look, melting into her girlfriend’s touch as she wrapped her arms around Raelle’s midsection. Resting her head on Raelle’s shoulder, they made eye contact through the mirror. 

“What do you think the announcement is about?” Scylla asked quietly. 

Raelle sighed. “Probably an update on Alder’s replacement. The council has been discussing a new leader for almost a year now. The military is barely functioning right now.” 

Scylla frowned. “Yeah.” she agreed. “I hope they pick someone better than Alder. They're sure giving this person a lot of power.” 

Raelle shrugged. “Who can blame them?” she said. “Witches around the country are pushing for a new leader. A new Alder. They need guidance.” 

Scylla frowned, finally releasing Raelle with a quick kiss on the neck. 

She left the bathroom to get dressed, and Raelle laughed quietly as she heard Tally groaning from the other room. She knew Abigail would be up by now and pulling the covers off her sister in an attempt to get the girl out of bed. 

After much struggle, the girls were able to get ready, and in about fifteen minutes, they were on their way to the auditorium. 

There seemed to be an unspoken tension in the air, as if everyone was waiting for bad news.

Raelle couldn’t help but feel the same as she walked with her unit, her hands clasped tightly in Scylla’s. If the council had really chosen a new leader, there was about to be a big change.

As the unit entered the auditorium, Raelle swallowed at the sight of the huge crowd. Many of the eyes turned to their small group as they walked along the pathway, taking a seat in the middle of the center section of seats. Raelle sat a little lower in her seat as she saw people turn in their seat to glance back at her, whispering to each other. 

“Ignore them, Raelle.” Scylla said, squeezing her girlfriend’s hand. “They don’t know shit.” 

Raelle glanced over at her girlfriend, smiling a bit when she saw the anger that Scylla was clearly struggling to hide. Taking a deep breath, Raelle straightened, sitting up in her seat and holding herself proudly. 

Muttering filled the auditorium as everyone waited with baited breath for someone to walk onstage. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, a lone woman walked onto the stage, the clack of her heels echoing loudly against the stage as a hush fell over the room. Raelle had never known any announcement to feel so intense and serious. 

The woman reached the podium, and Raelle was startled to see that she recognized her. She had been one of the councillors who voted against her unit at the evaluation. 

Clenching her jaw, Raelle watched in anticipation as the woman cleared her throat, spreading a sheet of paper out in front of her on the podium. 

“Witches,” she addressed, fixing them all with a serious look. “General Alder was our leader, and a fine General, but she was flawed.” 

That was one way to put it. 

“She was flawed, and she was forced to step down from her position. Now, the military and indeed, all of witchkind, have been launched into chaos because of this event. There is no doubt that what we witches need right now, more than anything, is someone to look to. For hope, for advice, for leadership. Just as we did with General Alder.” 

Raelle grit her teeth. This woman was clearly very sympathetic to Alder, despite her “flaws.” (See: kidnapping and keeping witches captive for several months, enslaving a member of her own army, almost killing Raelle’s girlfriend,  _ almost killing Raelle _ .)

“I am happy to announce,” the woman continues, unaware of the anger radiating from Raelle’s entire unit at her words. “That we have found the proper replacement for such a woman. We have found someone to look towards in our time of crisis, in this time of uncertainty and chaos. We have found General Petra Bellweather.” 

As if rehearsed, stomps immediately filled the air as the witches cheered for their new leader. Raelle didn’t stomp. Neither did her unit. Not even Abigail. 

Watching in shock and alarm as Petra Bellweather strode onto the stage, waving to the crowd, Raelle was just confused. Why would Petra be the choice for Alder’s replacement? Raelle couldn’t shake the feeling that something was  _ off  _ about this whole thing. Clearly, her unit had the same feeling she did, as they watched with a similar shock as General Bellweather approached the podium, nodding at the woman as she stepped aside.

“Right now, we are in a time of confusion and uncertainty,” Bellweather spoke to the auditorium. “The Spree are attacking more and more, and because of Alder’s absence, they don’t see us as a threat. Without Alder, we are nothing. That’s what the Spree is thinking right now. And I’m here today to tell you that this will not stand.” she said, gazing across the auditorium. 

“Under my leadership, we will take down the Spree.” she continued. “We will take down this terrorist organization that has killed so many, and kept us living in fear for so long.” 

Raelle’s stomach dropped at her words. Clearly, Petra had plans. 

“Tomorrow is Beltane.” she said, raising her eyebrows. “We will celebrate as we normally do. We will become powerful. And most of all, we will be at our full potential when we launch a major attack against the Spree. Two days from now, I will be launching an operation to attack the Spree where it hurts. Then, we will show those terrorists what it means to be a real witch!” Petra finished, her voice raising. 

Loud stomping filled the auditorium at her final words. 

Raelle’s unit remained still. Abigail stomped quietly, looking down as she did.

A tension seemed to fill the air around them, even as loud cheering filled the room and Petra Bellweather smiled at the witches and waved her thanks. 

One thing was for sure. 

Everything was about to change. 

* * *

The boys had arrived once again.

Beltane was the same, and yet it was so, so different. 

Instead of Alder greeting the Witch Father, it was Bellweather. Instead of the boys they had met and come to know and enjoy, there were new boys, new cadets. 

That was true of both the girls and the boys. The unit looked on at the unfamiliar, screaming cadets and cringed a little. Had they really been that obnoxious just a year ago? 

However, while much had changed, Raelle was happy to note that Byron had still arrived at Fort Salem in time to celebrate Beltane among his brothers.

“Raelle Collar,” Byron addressed smoothly, his voice just the same as Raelle had remembered. 

Raelle smiled at the boy, running up to him and giving him a warm hug. “Byron,” she said, pulling back. “It’s nice to see you again.” 

“Woah, are you sure you’re the Raelle I know?” Byron asked, exaggeratedly looking around as if he’d spot the real Raelle somewhere. “My Raelle would never willingly give lowly  _ me  _ a hug.” 

Raelle rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm, smiling nonetheless. 

“Oh, and who might this lovely lady be?” Byron said, turning to look next to Raelle. 

Raelle turned and saw Scylla approaching, a warm smile on her face. “I’m Scylla,” she said, wrapping an arm around Raelle’s shoulders. “I’m Raelle’s girlfriend.” 

Byron gave Raelle a look, smiling mischievously. “Don’t tell me this is the girl we talked about last year--” 

“Byron!” Raelle interrupted quickly, flushing. 

“No, wait,” Scylla said, raising her eyebrows. “Please, Byron, go on.” 

Raelle held out her hand. “You really don’t have to, Byron-” 

Byron held up his own hand, silencing her. He turned to face Scylla. “Let’s just say that her and I had a very  _ enlightening _ discussion concerning you at last year’s Beltane.”

Scylla looked over at Raelle skeptically. “Uh huh,” she said. 

“Yep, that’s it, that’s what happened,” Raelle said quickly, turning to Byron once again. “So, why are you at Fort Salem this year? I thought all the cadets went onto War College?”

“Don’t think I’m letting this girlfriend thing go, Collar.” he said, narrowing his eyes as Scylla smiled. “I'm staying to study under Witch Father. But I could ask you the same question? What are you guys still doing here?” 

“Oh, well-” Raelle started to explain and found she didn’t really have the words. 

Scylla saw her struggling to answer and jumped in. “We’re helping out Sergeant Quartermaine.” she said. There, just vague enough that it didn’t reveal too much, but enough to count as an answer.

Byron narrowed his eyes. “Does this have to do with the whole Alder thing?” he asked, his voice low. Raelle’s smile dropped. “I’ve heard rumors that you were involved in all that business.”

Raelle shrugged. “Rumors.” she said, as if it were an answer. 

Byron let it slide, though, noticing her less-than-ideal reaction. “Well, I hope to see you two at the festivities. Collar, you better save me at least one dance during the Reel.” he said, starting to move back towards his brothers, but still pointing at Raelle. 

“I will, don’t worry.” she called as Byron left. 

“I’ll hold you to that!” he said, finally joining the other boys and walking into the building. 

Raelle watched after him, her smile slowly dropping as she thought of the events that had occurred today. The announcement had been... _ shocking _ . And a little weird. It was a hard thing to shake, and Raelle found that the same anxiety seemed to follow her around, as if it was a lingering feeling from the auditorium this morning.

Scylla grabbed her shoulder and pulled Raelle towards her, interrupting her thoughts and meeting their gazes. “So, you talked about me last year? During  _ Beltane?”  _

Raelle blushed, staring pointedly at the ground.

“I’ll figure out what you two were talking about at some point, you know,” Scylla said, walking with Raelle to the training room. “I have my ways.” 

“Well, there’s only two people who even know what the conversation was,” Raelle pointed out. “And one of those people is me. And you’re definitely not getting it from me.”

“Then I’ll get it from Byron.” Scylla replied. 

“Not if I can help it,” Raelle said. “Byron is dead to me if he tells you anything. He doesn’t seem like the traitor type though.” 

Scylla rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. “So dramatic,” she muttered as they finally reached the training room. 

Anacostia was waiting for them, along with Tally and Abigail. 

“Alright girls, practice your hand-to-hand, and we’ll move onto vocals after that.” Anacostia ordered. 

The girls immediately got on the mat and began to grapple with each other, working on their hand-to-hand. 

While no one said anything explicit, Raelle could feel the tension in the room. The unease that had stayed with her since the announcement this morning. 

She could only hope that this was all in her head, and that there wasn’t really anything wrong.

Unfortunately, luck had never really been on her side, and her gut was telling her that something was off about this whole thing. 

Raelle was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by a stray kick from Tally, knocking her on her ass, and drawing laughter from the other girl. 

Raelle clenched her jaw, standing. “Alright, let’s dance, Craven,” Raelle challenged, giving her sister a playful grin.

  
  


Scylla woke to the sound of Raelle’s quiet grunts breaking the still silence of their room. 

Sitting up, Scylla rubbed her eyes as she looked over at Raelle’s bed. Her face morphed into one of sympathy as she looked at Raelle jerking around, her face scrunched up in pain. 

The sheets had bunched up in a pile at the end of the bed, and Raelle was wildly kicking her legs out as she grunted. Scylla watched in pain as Raelle placed a hand on her stomach, grimacing in pain. Her shirt had ridden up her torso, exposing the brutal scars covering Raelle’s abdomen. 

Scylla stepped out of her bed, rushing over to Raelle, who was now thrashing wildly in the bed. It had been a couple weeks since a nightmare this bad, but they still happened. 

Placing her hands onto Raelle’s shoulders and pushing her against the mattress to keep her from swinging out at her, Scylla looked down at her girlfriend in worry. “Raelle,” she said, shaking Raelle’s shoulders slightly. “Raelle, wake up, you’re having a nightmare.” 

Raelle seemed to tense in her sleep before she suddenly shot up, eyes opening wide as she let loose a small scream. 

Scylla looked down at her girlfriend in concern, her hands still resting on Raelle’s shoulders. She squeezed them a little tighter, giving Raelle a small smile when the girl looked over at her suddenly with wide eyes. 

Raelle breathed heavily as she remembered where she was. Looking over, she saw Scylla looking down at her lovingly. Finally recollecting herself, Raelle slumped over, rubbing her eyes and grimacing. “I’m sorry, Scyl-” 

Scylla interrupted her quickly, wrapping her in a tight hug. “It’s okay, Rae.” she whispered as Raelle began to return the hug, leaning into Scylla’s touch. “You don’t have to be sorry.” 

Raelle nodded, resting her head on the crook of Scylla’s neck. Eventually, she had calmed down enough that her breathing had slowed down to a normal rate. 

They stayed like that for a while, Scylla rubbing small circles on Raelle’s back as her girlfriend recovered from the nightmare. 

Before long, Scylla had to resist laughing a little as she began to hear soft snores coming from her girlfriend as her breathing finally evened out. 

She carefully extracted herself from Raelle’s grip, laying the girl back down on her bed. She began to retreat back to her own bed, intent on giving Raelle some space to rest, but a hand suddenly wrapped itself around her wrist as she stood. 

She turned to see Raelle looking at her with bleary eyes, barely awake. “Stay,” she mumbled, followed by incomprehensible murmuring as the girl began to fall asleep again. 

Scylla smiled fondly at her girlfriend, leaning down and touching a kiss to the girl’s forehead before easing herself onto the bed beside her. 

As she leaned into Raelle, wrapping her arms around the girl’s midsection, Scylla couldn’t help the content smile that spread across her face as she drifted off. 

* * *

Today was Beltane, and excitement seemed to buzz throughout the whole base. 

The cadets had the opportunity to mingle with their male counterparts, just as the unit had last year. This year, however, the unit still crashed the party, Abigail and Tally talking to a couple boys as they all spread out across the field.

Abigail was being shamelessly flirty, as usual, and despite Tally’s awkwardness, she seemed to charm a few boys as she spoke to them. 

Raelle let loose a snort as Abigail winked at a boy who passed by them, taking a drink to one of the girls next to them. The boy could only stare, almost tripping over himself and dropping the drinks he held as he went to take his seat. 

Abigail gave them a smug grin as she turned back towards her unit. “I love Beltane,” she said, breathing out a content sigh. 

“Yeah, we know,” Scylla said, rolling her eyes as she leaned into Raelle’s side. 

Raelle laughed at Abigail’s slight scowl. Tally was paying them no attention, looking desperately around the field, eyes darting every which way. 

Raelle sighed a little. “Gerit’s not here, Tally.” she said. 

Tally slumped over, a slight pout on her lips. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “But a girl can hope, I guess.” 

Abigail reached out a hand and placed on Tally’s. “You’ll find another guy, Tal. Gerit’s not the only one out there for you.” 

Tally smiled at her and nodded. “So who are you looking at, Abi?” she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

Abigail gave her a wicked smile, turning and giving the boy from earlier a flirty wave. “I don’t know, Tally, I’ve got a couple options at the moment.” she answered, turning back towards them. 

Raelle rolled her eyes. 

Tally turned to them, giving the pair a teasing smile. “I bet you guys know who you’ll be with this year, huh?” 

Scylla smiled wickedly and Raelle seemed to lose focus as she looked off into the distance with a smile. “Oh, for sure.” Raelle said, looking back at them. “I’m gonna go for that total dreamboat, Byron. I mean, talk about sexy, right-” 

She was interrupted by a punch in the arm from Scylla, and she roared with laughter at her girlfriend’s unimpressed expression. 

Tally giggled as Raelle apologized to an unhappy Scylla, glancing over at Abigail. The Bellweather looked over at the pair, rolling her eyes. “Can you guys stop being cute for two seconds, please?” she asked. “It’s making me a little sick.” 

Raelle glared at her. 

Abigail shrugged. “I can’t help how my body reacts.” she protested. 

Raelle promptly grabbed an acorn from the grass and chucked it at Abi’s head. 

Abigail let out an offended gasp, lifting her hand to her chest in an excellent impression of a high atlantic woman clutching her pearls. “Raelle Collar,” she said, eyes wide. “Is this a challenge?” 

“Absolutely not-” Raelle said quickly, holding up her hand. 

“Very well, I have no choice.” Abigail said, reaching towards the grass and searching for things to throw at her sister. “Tally, join me in this war!” 

Soon enough, they were laughing loudly as everyone threw acorns and sticks at each other. They didn’t even notice the numerous weird looks they got from the other witches as they fought. 

They finally stopped at the sound of a throat clearing behind them. Turning, they all smiled when that saw Anacostia standing down at them, looking rather unimpressed. 

“Hi, Sergeant.” Tally said, giving her a glowing smile. “We were just mingling with everyone.” 

Anacostia raised an eyebrow, looking at the other girls. “Right.” she said skeptically. “Collar, Ramshorn, come with me, I need to discuss something with you two.” 

Raelle’s smile dropped and she furrowed her brows at Anacostia’s serious tone. “What’s wrong?” she asked, standing from the grass and helping Scylla up. 

Anacostia shook her head. “Nothing, Collar. I just need to speak with you.” 

Scylla and Raelle exchanged looks before they followed the Sergeant off the field and towards the infirmary. 

They stopped at the large tree outside the building, and Raelle struggled to focus as the tree brought back many memories. 

She forced herself to listen to Anacostia, shaking her head as the Sergeant began to speak. 

“Since the events in Alder’s office, I’ve been doing some research.” she told them. 

“Research?” Scylla asked, brows furrowed. “What kind of research?” 

Anacostia sighed. “What you two did,” she said, looking down. “It’s...unheard of. The connection of your powers, the bond that you two have? That’s the stuff of legend. That’s the kind of power that people  _ kill for. _ ” 

Raelle swallowed, unconsciously reaching over and grabbing Scylla’s hand. 

“I did some research to see if anything like this had happened before.” Anacostia continued. “It took me a while, but I found some old texts from centuries back. They tell of two people who connected their powers and formed the same bond. If you look even further back, this sort of thing seems to happen every three hundred years. The last time was before Alder even made a deal with the military.” 

“So?” Scylla said, squeezing her girlfriend’s hand tighter. “What does this have to do with us?” 

Anacostia frowned slightly as she continued. “The texts seem sort of similar to...prophecies.” she said, ignoring the incredulous looks that Raelle and Scylla gave her. “I know it sounds unrealistic, but the texts said that pairings like these bring about great change. That they change the world as we know it. And, as crazy as it sounds, it seems to hold true based on the past pairings that have appeared. The last time it happened, the pairing brought around change in the form of Alder making her historic deal to save the witches. And even before that, a similar pairing brought around the Black Plague, which killed millions of people.” 

“So, what?” Raelle asked skeptically. “You think that we’ll end up changing the world? Because we’re some sort of mythic pairing or some shit?” 

Anacostia winced a bit. “The text actually describes the pairing as ‘soulmates’” she said, gaze directed towards the grass. 

Raelle raised an eyebrow and Scylla looked similarly disbelieving. “That’s ridiculous, soulmates don’t exist. They’re a pretty myth created by witches that needed to tell their kids a nice story to put them to bed. Everyone knows they’re not real.” she said. Scylla nodded her agreement. 

“That’s what I thought, too, but these texts describe the situation almost perfectly. The power between you two, the bond you share. And they describe the pairing as soulmates. That’s the reason they have so much power. Why you two have so much power.” 

Raelle and Scylla still shook their heads. “No offense, Sergeant,” Raelle said, glancing over at Scylla. “But this sounds a lot like a folktale. I mean, a prophecy? Soulmates? Stuff like that doesn’t just happen in real life.” 

Scylla nodded. “Thank you for telling us, but Raelle and I should get back to the ritual before Abigail and Tally get worried.” 

Anacostia sighed, rubbing her eyes and nodding. “Perhaps you’re right, girls.” she said. “I’m starting to hear myself and now I just feel crazy.” 

Raelle shook her head. “No, no,” she said. “It sounds valid, it’s just a little hard to comprehend. Maybe we can take a look at the texts together later this week?” 

Anacostia straightened and nodded. “Sounds like a good plan, Collar.” she said, giving them both a firm nod. “Now, go and enjoy yourselves. It’s Beltane, after all.” 

Raelle blushed a little as Anacostia gave them a small wink before she turned away and began to walk back towards the building.

Scylla chuckled, rested her arm across Raelle’s shoulders fondly as they turned and began to walk back towards the field. 

“That was kind of weird,” Raelle commented. “I’ve never known Anacostia to be someone who believes in folktales and myths.” 

“Yeah,” Scylla agreed with a nod. “She doesn’t really seem like the type.”

A comfortable silence took hold as the two of them walked together. 

“Soulmates, huh?” Scylla said conversationally. “That doesn’t sound awful, you know.” 

“Yeah,” Raelle agreed. “It just doesn’t sound realistic. My mama used to tell me stories when I was younger. She told me that one day I’d meet my soulmate, just like she did.” 

“Her soulmate?” Scylla asked, eyes wide. 

“Yeah, she always referred to my dad as her soulmate.” Raelle said, shrugging. “They weren’t actual destined partners or anything like that, but they loved each other very much. That was true.”

Scylla squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. 

“I just-” Raelle hesitated slightly before continuing. “If I ever believed in soulmates or destiny, I stopped after my mom died and my dad was left all alone.” 

Scylla let loose a sigh. “After my parents died, I lost any of the faith I had left.” she admitted, head turned downwards. “I lost any sense of purpose, or reason. I was just angry, and scared. The Spree took advantage of that, but in a sick way, they did give me a purpose. Something to believe in again.” 

Raelle looked up at her, listening closely as her girlfriend spoke. Even though they had been dating for more than a year now, it was always a struggle to get Scylla to open up. Raelle always jumped at a chance to learn more about Scylla, especially her past, since she avoided talking about it the most. 

Scylla sighed. “I guess there’s some part of me that still believes in fairytales, even after all that.” she said, glancing up at Raelle. “I would love to be your soulmate.” 

Raelle smiled. “I would love to be your soulmate too, Scyl,” she said, waving at Tally and Abigail as they entered the clearing once again. “Who knows? Maybe this whole prophecy shit is for real. Maybe we were actually destined for each other.” 

She said it casually, and Scylla chuckled. Her girlfriend clearly didn’t believe any of what she was saying, but it was nice to see her smiling and happy. 

Soulmates weren’t real, but if they were, Scylla would definitely want Raelle to be hers. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit dances the reel, and someone's motives are revealed.

Beltane had finally arrived, and Petra Bellweather had never felt more satisfied. Her plan had been executed to near-perfection, and now she was the true leader people would look towards in times of crisis. 

Sitting in the large chair that had once belonged to General Alder, she looked around at the massive office. She cringed a little at the decorations that hung all over the whole. A remodeling was definitely in order for this place once she had the time. 

Soon enough, she decided. Soon enough, she would have plenty of time to do whatever she wanted, regardless of what anyone told her. 

Petra smiled at the thought. 

As she waited for her meeting, Petra quickly lost herself in thought. She recalled the evaluation that had taken place a few days prior concerning Anacosita’s new unit. Her strike team. 

The strike team that had her very own daughter as the leader. Of course she had voted in favor of the team, if only to decrease suspicion and not make an enemy out of Anacostia or her own daughter. She could care less about the unit themselves. Sure, the girls were gifted, but they weren’t anything special. 

She smiled a little when she recalled the actual test. It was a vicious trick David had pulled, making the simulation take place at the site of the Collar girl’s capture and rescue. It was meant to trip up the girl and throw the unit out of focus, but it didn't seem to affect the girls all that much. 

If anything, they seemed to get through the simulation even faster because of the setting. 

She frowned a little as she thought of the Collar girl. She had heard about the girl’s torture and how she had taken down Alder with the help of her unit and Anacostia, but Petra was still mystified as to  _ how  _ she had done it. 

Even with an exceptionally talented unit, it would be difficult to get Alder to let her guard down enough that they could surprise her and take her down. 

Not for the first time, Petra wondered exactly what had happened to the girl when she had been with the Spree. She had heard that Collar had been gravely injured, but she had been healed quickly. What was really odd was the days following her rescue. Petras' agents had told her that Collar seemed to act as a bodyguard of sorts to General Alder, rarely leaving her side. 

_ That  _ was unusual, especially considering it was Collar who had gotten Alder arrested in the end. 

Nonetheless, the Spree had succeeded in their task. They had managed to take Alder down. 

Just as Petra had ordered them to. 

The redheaded woman, Jessica, had seemed especially excited at the opportunity to strike against Alder, but she had refused to give Petra any details about her plan, only promising that it would succeed and that Alder would be taken down.

Petra hadn’t been pleased with the secrecy, but she trusted her agents. It was why she had created the Spree in the first place. She trusted them to launch attacks against civilians, creating enough chaos to plant seeds of doubt concerning Alder’s leadership. Enough that it would easily make way for a new leader. A leader like Petra. 

This plan had been years in the making, and Jessica had been her partner through it all. And now, it was finally paying off. 

Petra frowned as she thought about Jessica. The woman had joined her and assisted her for years without complaint. She had basically given Petra her position by taking down Alder for her. 

Petra owed the woman, as much as she loathed to admit it, and that was the only reason she allowed the woman to continue with her secret plans and operations. 

But she still found herself wondering what the woman had been up to. Why had she been after Collar in the first place, and how had they gotten the girl to take down Alder?

Petra looked up abruptly as the man she was meeting with opened the door and stepped into the room, giving her a polite smile. 

Petra returned it easily, standing to greet the man properly. 

In the back of her head, she still wondered what Jessica had done exactly to win this position, but she pushed it down as the man launched into discussion. 

It was a question for another time. 

* * *

“The Reel is not just a dance,” Tansey called out to the witches, spinning around as she looked at everyone waiting. “It knows you. It knows what you want, maybe even more than you know what you want.” 

Tally bounced in excitement and Abigail let a smile split across her face as she waited for the music to begin. Raelle squeezed Scylla’s hand tighter, a little nervous. 

Last Beltane, she had had no expectations going in, so she wasn’t disappointed when she had ended up with Byron. This year, she desperately wanted to end up with Scylla by the end of the dance, and based on the way Tansey spoke about the dance, she was worried that she would end up with someone else. 

She couldn’t imagine spending her Beltane with anyone else. 

“When the music starts, let go,” Tansey told them, narrowing her eyes. “Let the music guide you.” 

There was a moment of silence as everyone waited with baited breath. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of loud drum beats, quickly followed by the cheers of the witches as they began to remove their shoes. 

Tally and Abigail smiled and quickly removed their shoes, running onto the dance floor together and beginning to dance to the beat of the music. 

Scylla giggled a little as she took off her shoes, glancing back at Raelle with a flirty smile that Raelle immediately returned. 

Raelle was helpless to resist as Scylla held out her hand, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend. Raelle took a moment to look at the girl, basking in her beauty. 

Scylla was radiant, dressed in a white dress that hugged her curves just right. Raelle felt her eyes linger on Scylla’s legs, the dress short enough to show off the girl’s gorgeous figure, ending just before her mid-thigh. Raelle knew she was staring, but she was unable to stop herself as Scylla grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor, laughing playfully at her. 

The music began to intensify, and Raelle was lost in Scylla’s thrall as they began to dance. She twirled around her and Raelle grabbed the girl’s arm, pulling Scylla back towards her before leaning over and dropping her girlfriend into a low dip. They met eyes, and Raelle was breathless at the sight of her piercing blue eyes. 

Before she knew what was happening, Scylla had been pulled from her arms, and she felt a hand grab her own arm, pulling her in the other direction. 

She blinked a little as she came back to reality, noticing that she was dancing with a new woman, dressed in a simple blue dress. She grabbed Raelle’s hips, dragging the girl closer to her as they swayed to the beat of the music. 

Distracted, Scylla watched from across the dance floor as Raelle was pulled into the grip of a new woman, allowing the woman to spin her around and lock her into a rhythmic sway.

Anger burned in her chest at the sight, and Scylla nearly dropped her own partner as she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Raelle dancing with the woman. The black suit Raelle wore stuck out in the crowd, and Scylla easily spotted her in the crowd, hypnotized by the way Raelle moved with the beat effortlessly, twirling around her partner and letting a happy smile break out across her face when she met Scylla’s eyes.

Suddenly, Raelle was pushed into a pair of strong arms. Looking up, she noticed Byron giving her a happy smile. She easily returned it, laughing loudly as Byron wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. He grabbed her hands, spinning her around and giving her a dramatic bow as she came to a stop in front of him. Raelle simply smiled, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back up as he laughed. They spun around, dancing happily with each other as the music pounded away. 

And then they were changing partners again, and Scylla could only watch as Raelle was pushed into the arms of yet another girl. This one grinned flirtily at the blonde before snaking an arm around Raelle’s hip and pulling her closer. 

Steeling herself, Scylla dragged herself across the dance floor, letting the music guide her towards the girl she loved. She twirled through the crowd and weaved around partners, only to come face to face with Raelle as she herself worked her way over towards Scylla. 

Their eyes met, and both of them smiled. 

Raelle moved towards her, grabbing her hips and swinging her in a circle along with the other dancers. Scylla grounded herself, letting the music take over as she grabbed both of Raelle’s hands. Raelle moved in sync with her, smiling as they began to step side to side, moving in unison with the other dancers.

They paid the others no mind, however, lost only in each other. They swayed back and forth, spinning and twirling around, breathing heavily as they lost themselves in the music and in the feeling of dancing as one. 

As Raelle came to a kneel beside Scylla’s legs, there was a moment of silence at the dancers waiting for the music to return. Quiet drum beats radiated through the air, and Raelle could feel herself breathing in time with the beats as Scylla knotted her fingers in Raelle’s blonde hair, the girl bouncing on the balls of her feet to the rhythm. 

The music swelled, and Scylla pulled Raellle up by her hair, pulling the girl closer to her and touching their foreheads together, eyes closed and breathing heavily. They swayed to the music, and Raelle felt like she was floating, dancing with Scylla as the music played. 

Other dancers moved swiftly past the pair, switching rapidly between partners and throwing themselves across the dance floor in passion and energy. But Raelle and Scylla stayed at the center of the floor, spinning and twirling around each other, impossibly close and moving as if they were one dancer.

Petra Bellweather couldn’t help but stare as she watched from the sidelines. There was plenty of energy radiating from the dance floor as the witches twirled around to the rhythm of the music, but Petra was focused on the pair in the center. 

Dressed in black and white, Scylla and Raelle moved fluidly across the dance floor, so in sync and together that they might as well have been one person. 

Petra could only watch in shock and awe as pure power seemed to radiate from the pair as they danced. The other dancers twirled around them, glancing back at the two in amazement as they cut through the dance floor with fluid motions, holding each other close and ignoring their surroundings. 

Petra blanched at the sight. She had never seen such raw power from any Beltane pairing. Even Witch father and Alder paled in comparison to the energy coming from Raelle and Scylla as they danced. 

Finally, the music abruptly stopped, and Raelle found herself hovering above the floor, Scylla’s hand gasping the collar of her blazer as she held the girl up. Raelle could only look up at her girlfriend in awe, breathing heavily as Scylla reached her other hand down, grabbing the other side of Raelle’s blazer and quickly pulling her to a standing position. 

Raelle melted into her touch as Scylla smashed her lips against Raelle’s, her hand still grasping the material of her suit in a tight grip, pulling the girl close as they kissed. 

The kiss became hungry and passionate, Scylla moving her hands from Raelle’s suit, resting her palm on the back of Raelle's neck instead as she pulled her closer. 

Raelle’s own hand became tangled in Scylla’s hair as she returned the kiss, her heart beating impossibly fast. 

Scylla pulled away abruptly, much to Raelle’s displeasure. “We should go somewhere more private,” Scylla told her breathlessly, her hand still resting comfortably on the back of Raelle’s neck. 

Raelle nodded, quickly leaning towards Scylla and giving her another kiss before Scylla could stop her. 

“Rae, c’mon,” Scylla choked out as Raelle planted a few hungry kisses along her neck. “Let’s go,” 

With that, Raelle retreated with a grin, allowing Scylla to grab her wrist and drag her towards the treeline. As they approached a small clearing where a few blankets had been laid out, Scylla turned back towards Raelle, fixing her with a wicked grin. 

Raelle returned the grin, laughing a little as Scylla pushed her to the ground, following her down and straddling her hips. 

Raelle looked up at the girl in amazement. “You’re so beautiful.” she said softly, eyes slightly glazed over as she stared up at Scylla. 

“You’re such a sap, Collar,” Scylla replied, giving her a toothy smile. She began to unbutton Raelle’s blazer, smiling at the shiver that Raelle received from her touch. 

“Beltane.” Scylla said contentedly, leaning over and trailing a line of kisses from Raelle’s neck towards her navel, eventually reaching the waistband of her pants.

“Beltane.” Raelle agreed breathlessly, hands fisted in the blankets as Scylla moved further down. 

Petra Bellweather looked out of her window in confusion and awe as she felt the shockwave of power pass throughout Fort Salem. Similar waves of power seemed to continue throughout the night as Beltane continued. However, this sort of energy could only be a result of one pairing, Petra knew. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of those girls on the dance floor, radiating energy as they danced. Raw power. 

Taking in a deep breath, she resolved to talk to the redhead in the morning. It was time that she answered a few of Petra’s questions.

  
  


As the sun rose, people began to file out of the trees and begin heading back towards the building, rejoining their companions and stretching their arms as they walked. 

Raelle and Scylla finally gathered the energy to leave their little clearing and get dressed, smiling at each other as they began to walk back towards the building. Almost as soon as they had left the treeline, Tally jumped towards them, her hair a bit messy, but her eyes energetic and bright as she looked at them. 

“You guys had fun, huh?” Tally said, her eyebrows raised at the trail of hickies littering Raelle’s neck. 

Raelle blushed a litte, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck self-consciously. 

Scylla smiled and glanced over at her girlfriend. “Oh yeah,” Scylla said, nodding back at Tally. “Lots. What about you?” 

Tally grinned. “Same here.” she said, wrapping her arms around the two girls. “This Beltane felt so much more...energetic than last year. I wonder why that is.” 

Raelle and Scylla shrugged. “Who cares?” Raelle said. “As long as we all had fun. And I’m sure Anacostia will be pleased with our abilities in training today.” 

She glanced over at the two girls, wiggling her eyebrows and giving them a grin. 

Tally laughed as they walked down the sidewalk, their eyes shining with satisfaction after an exciting night. 

“Hey, guys!” a voice called from the left, grabbing the unit’s attention.

They turned to find Abigail waving at them as she walked over from the opposite side of the field, a smile spread across her face. 

“Hey,” she said again when she had joined them. “How was everyone’s night?” 

An indulgent smile passed across Tally’s face at Abigail’s question and she immediately launched into a tirade about the boy she had spent the night with. 

“He was so sweet!” she said, grabbing Abigail’s arm. “It was fantastic!” 

Raelle and Scylla grabbed each other's hands and exchanged a fond look as they thought about last night. 

“Yeah, my night was pretty fantastic, too,” Abigail commented, turning to walk with them towards their barracks. “It’s weird, this Beltane seemed so much more...potent.” 

Scylla narrowed her eyes and looked over at her. “What do you mean?” she asked. 

Abigail shrugged. “I don’t know, I just felt so much more energetic this year. Like there was something in the air.” 

Tally nodded her agreement, while Raelle and Scylla continued to look confused. Realizing that Abigail wasn’t going to elaborate any further, however, they shrugged it off as they finally reached the door to their room.” 

“You guys go ahead,” Abigail told them. “I want to talk to my mom before we start training.” 

“Is this about the whole General thing?” Raelle asked, her hand resting on the door handle. 

Abigail nodded. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I just want to know why she didn’t tell me anything, or how she managed to get the council to nominate her.” 

The unit nodded. “Sounds like a good plan.” Scylla said. 

Abigail sighed. “Okay, wish me luck.” she said, turning around and waving a two-fingered salute as she walked away. “I’ll see you guys at training.” 

The unit waved goodbye and they walked into their rooms, Raelle and Scylla immediately collapsing on top of each other on Raelle’s small bed. 

“Do you think we have time for a nap?” Raelle said, groaning into her pillow. 

Scylla laughed a little, giving her girlfriend a fond hug. “I’m sure we can sit here for a few minutes. Tally will probably wake us up if we do fall asleep.” 

Raelle said something, but it was muffled by the pillow she was shoving her face into. 

“What was that?” Scylla asked, smirking a little. 

Raelle’s snores were her only answer. 

Scylla rolled her eyes, sighing before she lied on her back next to Raelle, staring up at the ceiling. 

Glancing over at Raelle’s sleeping form, Scylla breathed a little easier, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was going to happen soon. Something bad. 

Beltane had been amazing, and it was a night of pure bliss spent with the girl she loved. However, as soon as Scylla had left that clearing, she had been filled with a dread that had only gotten worse as time went on. 

She sighed. She was just being paranoid, which was understandable. 

Nothing was going to happen.

* * *

“You mean to tell me that you had an extremely powerful witch acting as your  _ slave _ , and you let her get away? You gave her to  _ Alder _ ?” Petra Bellweather spoke quietly into the mirror. Her voice was calm, but she was clearly trying her best to control her anger. 

“Yes.” Jessica responded, her image appearing on the face of the mirror. “My plan changed under the circumstances.” 

“What do you mean?” Petra hissed. “What circumstances led you to give up such a huge asset to our greatest enemy?” 

Jessica smirked. “Originally, my plan was to simply use Collar to take down Alder using the rune. She would assassinate the woman, claim it was for the Spree, and subsequently take the fall. But then, Scylla Ramshorn of all people shows up to rescue Collar.” 

“Scylla Ramshorn?” Petra asked, brows furrowed. “What does she have to do with all this?” 

“Ramshorn was one of my operatives.” Jessica explained. “She was tasked with delivering Collar to the Spree originally, but she failed the mission.” 

“You mean she went rogue because she fell in love with her target?” 

Jessica nodded. “Rookie move. I should have anticipated it, but we were able to get our hands on Collar another way.” 

Petra nodded, motioning for her to continue. 

“I had Collar under the control of the knife, which should have been unbreakable. She should have been entirely under the influence of the rune at that point, and yet, when Ramshorn called her name, Collar looked over at her. She showed some reaction. Even further, Scylla was able to break Collar from the rune’s control entirely. And after that, I had a new plan.” 

Petra raised an eyebrow. 

“General, have you heard of the soulmate bond? The sacred bond between two witches that only occurs every 300 years or so?” 

Petra’s eyes widened. “Yes, of course I’ve heard of it,” she said incredulously. “It’s not real.” 

Jessica smirked. “On the contrary, Petra. The soulmate bond is very real, and it’s very powerful.” she told her. “Everytime it occurs, a significant change is brought to the world. It has been 300 hundred years since the last soulmate pairing, since Alder’s deal with the military. It was only a matter of time before the bond took hold and brought on the prophesized change.”

“So Ramshorn and Collar are soulmates?” Petra asked disbelievingly. 

“Exactly.” Jessica nodded. “The soulmate bond is the only thing strong enough to resist such a powerful rune. Once I realized that the soulmate bond had formed, I resolved that I would allow Collar to return to Fort Salem. Back to Alder.” 

Petra shook her head. “I still don’t understand. Why would you give up such power?” 

“Because it provided an opportunity for Alder to lose her position. Would you say that Alder’s imprisonment was a great change? Did it affect the world in a significant way?” 

Petra nodded, her eyes widening slightly in understanding. “You allowed Collar to go back to Fort Salem because you knew she’d be able to find a way to take down Alder  _ for us _ .” 

Jessica nodded. “I knew that the arrival of the soulmate bond implied that great change would soon arrive. I predicted that this change would be Alder’s imprisonment and fall from power. It was nearly inevitable that Collar and her companions would take her down, especially since she used the knife for her own benefit, just as I suspected she would. Alder was always power-hungry, and she’s used the rune before on other witches, so she clearly had no moral qualms with it.” 

Petra nodded. “You knew that Raelle would take down Alder the whole time, allowing me to become General.”

Jessica nodded, a pleased smile on her face. 

“Clever,” Petra murmured. “The soulmate thing explains what happened at Beltane.” 

Jessica remained silent as Petra paced.

“This means that Anacostia’s unit is basically unstoppable.” Petra realized, eyes wide. “Not only is the unit especially gifted by themselves, they have two incredibly powerful witches among them.” 

Petra stopped pacing, glancing up at Jessica. “They could take down entire armies with their power. And I was going to let them simply be a small stealth unit.” 

Jessica nodded. “Their power is incredible, especially since the bond has taken hold.” 

“This could be perfect.” Petra said, nodding her head. “We have the Spree attack planned tomorrow. I was planning on taking a significant force and ‘stopping’ the attack before they could kill too many civilians. But if I were to take a unit of only four witches, and they were able to stop an entire force of Spree agents before they were able to strike at all, the public approval would skyrocket. It would mean immediate results with no witch casualties.” 

Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting that we call off the attack tomorrow?” 

“No, no, Jessica.” Petra replied. “I’m suggesting the opposite. The Spree attack happens, and I deploy Anacostia’s team instead of an entire troop of soldiers.” 

Jessica nodded her understanding. “So, Collar’s unit ‘stops’ the Spree attack without much struggle. This gives you respect as a General since you stopped a Spree attack within your first week with the help of only four witches, and you don’t have to lose any soldiers in the process.” 

“Exactly, Jessica.” Petra said, a smile spreading across her face. “I’ll be the most respected General of my time, even above Alder.” 

Jessica smirked. “It’s clever, for sure.” 

Petra began to pace again, thinking of how best to execute her plan. 

“I’ll leave you to it, General,” Jessica said. “The attack will continue as planned tomorrow. My operatives aren’t expecting any sort of resistance from the military, so you have the element of surprise on your side.” 

Petra stopped pacing, fixing Jessica with a serious look. “Jessica, make no mistake,” she warned. “While your plan was clever and ended up turning out well,  _ never keep something like that from me again.” _

Jessica’s face remained unchanged as Petra spoke. “Whatever you say, General.” she spoke emotionlessly, and then her image faded from the mirror face. 

As Petra began to work out her plan of action, she was unaware of the person crouched beside the door, who had heard the entire exchange. 

Abigail Bellweather tried her best to control her breathing as she quietly stood and made her way to the training room, reeling from the conversation she had just overheard. 

Her own mother was the leader of the Spree. Her own mother had been involved with Raelle’s capture, torture, and enslavement.  _ Her _ mother was responsible for the thousands of civilian lives that had been taken by the Spree. 

Her mother was planning another attack, and she planned to use  _ their unit  _ to ‘stop’ the attack. Just to gain respect. To gain power and recognition and esteem.

Abigail’s throat burned as she rushed down the hallway. 

_ She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t.  _

_ Bellweathers didn’t cry.  _


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit finds out some truths, and Anacostia has a plan.

Raelle’s eyes widened as she watched Abigail storm into the training room, looking as if she was holding back tears. 

She could only watch as Abigail grabbed her scourge, swinging it in a brutal arc and completely destroying a stray training mannequin. Abigail spun around, letting out a small scream of frustration as she swung her whip once again, launching it towards another dummy and leaving it in pieces on the ground. 

“Abi?” Raelle called out. 

Abigail seemed to slump over, breathing heavily and still clutching her scourge in a white-knuckle grip. 

Without warning, Abigail threw her scourge across the room, the sound of it hitting the ground echoing through the room. “Shit!” Abigail cried, her voice cracking a little.

Tally had had enough, throwing down her own scourge and running over to her sister. Raelle shook herself out of her stupor, grabbing Scylla’s hand and following Tally. 

“Abigail? What’s wrong?” Tally asked, a hand resting on the Bellweather’s shoulder. Raelle and Scylla joined, standing next to Tally and looking at Abigail in concern.

Abigail turned to them, unshed tears shining in her eyes. Without warning, she dropped to the mat, as if the weight on her shoulders had pulled her down. 

Her unit followed her to the ground, watching as Abigail put her head in her hands, taking a deep breath. She finally looked up at them, noticing their worried faces, and she steeled herself. 

“I just went to see my mom,” she said quietly. “And I overheard a conversation she had with a Spree agent. The redhead. I recognized her voice.” 

The unit’s eyes widened collectively, and Raelle seemed to stiffen at the mention of the redhead. Scylla grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to keep her girlfriend in the present. She had the tendency to close herself off and relive the past. 

Thankfully, it seemed to work and Raelle took a deep breath. 

“What did she say?” Tally asked, trying to fight down her shock. 

Abigail looked up at her unit, her face stony. “My mom is the leader of the Spree.” she said  softly. “She created the Spree to get the public to lose faith in Alder so that she could take her position.” 

Tally gasped, while Scylla and Raelle just looked at her with wide eyes, as if they couldn’t believe what Abigail was telling them. 

Abigail continued, ignoring their looks. “She has an attack planned tomorrow, and she wants to deploy  _ our  _ unit to stop the attack.” 

Scylla’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would she want to stop her own attack?” 

Abigail shook her head. “It’s not about the attacks, it never was.” she told them. “The Spree was always means to an end. When the attack happens, she’ll use us to stop it, meaning that she’ll gain respect and esteem as a General for stopping the Spree attack before they could hurt any civilians.” 

Everyone nodded, but they all seemed unsure. 

Abigail noticed their disbelieving looks. “Stop looking at me like that!” she cried, throwing up her hands. “Do you really think I would lie about something like this? About my own mother?” 

Tally shook her head quickly. “No, of course not, Abigail,” she said, exchanging a glance with Raelle and Scylla. “But there is a possibility that you misheard? I mean-” 

“Where is Anacostia?” Abigail interrupted, her voice strong and certain. 

“W-what?” Tally asked, surprised by the sudden change in topic.

“Where is Anacostia?” Abigail repeated, a bit of anger piercing through her words.

Raelle jumped in before Tally could ask why. “She got called to your mom’s office.” she said, slowing down as she realized the implications of this information. “Something about a ….mission for our unit.” 

Raelle slumped over, realizing what that meant. That Petra was the leader of the Spree and she was going to use  _ her  _ unit to stop the attack. It was clever. It was horrible. 

“Does this mean that your mom has been responsible for all of those civilian deaths?” Raelle asked incredulously. “Just so that she could take down Alder?” 

Abigail looked up at her flatly. Exhaustion seemed to weigh on her shoulders. “It would seem so.” 

A silence overtook the room and the unit took some time to comprehend this information. Before they could discuss any further, footsteps drew their attention towards the door. 

Anacostia was walking into the room, looking as collected as she normally did. 

But training with the woman for months now, the unit knew better. The Sergeant walked with a tension set between her shoulders, and her face seemed to convey a hint of stress and anger by the clench of her jaw and her narrowed eyes. 

“Sergeant--” Tally began, standing from the mat. 

Anacostia held up her hand, stopping Tally in her tracks. “General Bellweather has just informed me that you will be deployed on a mission tomorrow to stop a Spree operation before they can attack.” 

She took a small breath, as if trying to control her anger. “I told her that you weren’t ready to take down an entire operation, but she disagreed.” Her jaw clenched. “You’re leaving tomorrow, under General Bellweather’s orders. I won’t be coming.” 

“No, no,” Abigail spoke, lifting herself from the ground. "We can’t-” 

“Are you defying orders from your General, Bellweather?” ANacostia said sharply. 

“Yes!” Raelle said strongly. “She’s part of the Spree!” 

Anacostia narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry?” 

Abigail stood, moving closer to Anacostia. “I overheard a meeting she had with a Spree operative. The redhead from the warehouse.” she insisted, eyes pleading. “This is all a part of her plan, Sergeant! She wants us to stop her fake attack so that she’ll gain respect as a General. She’s been planning to take Alder’s position for years now, and she finally did.” 

“But she didn’t get Alder arrested,” Anacostia pointed out. “We did. Raelle and Scylla.” 

“Yes!” Abigail said. “It was part of the redhead’s plan. Raelle was  _ supposed _ to escape from the warehouse that day, because the redhead knew that we would eventually expose Alder!” 

Anacostia shook her head. “That’s ridiculous-” 

“No!” Abigail yelled, getting in the Sergeant’s face. “She said some bullshit about soulmates, and how Raelle and Scylla’s bond was a sign that Alder would lose her position. That my mom could become General.” 

Anacostia’s eyes widened at the mention of the soulmate bond. She looked over at Raelle and Scylla, who were gazing at Abigail with a shocked expression. 

“She mentioned the soulmate bond?” Raelle asked Abigail, narrowing her eyes. 

“Yes,” Abigail said, pacing back and forth. “The redhead said your bond was the only reason she let us go that day at the warehouse. She said that the bond would change the world or some bullshit, so she assumed that Alder would lose her position.”

Anacostia took a second before she nodded. “You have to leave.” she said. 

“What?” the unit chorused, shock clear in their voices. 

“You have to leave,” Anacostia repeated bluntly. “You can’t get deployed tomorrow, and we can’t continue following orders from the leader of the Spree.” 

The unit just looked at her. 

Anacosita continued, ignoring their shock. “You can leave tonight.” she muttered, as if planning it out in her head. “Petra will send people after you, but if you hide, it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

“Wait, Sergeant-” 

“I can’t go with you, my absence would draw too much attention. I’ll play dumb, pretend you left without telling me anything. I can stay on the inside, gather intel.” 

“Sergeant-”

“Petra will try to find that knife, no doubt, if she knows about it now. She’ll ask me, but I can’t tell her. I’ll just have to hope she believes that you girls have it and took it with you.” 

“Sergeant!” Tally yelled, interrupting the woman’s stream of thoughts. 

Anacostia turned to her as if realizing she was there. “Yes, Craven?” 

“We can’t just leave!” she cried. “We have nowhere to go, no money, no idea what to do, and put that together with Petra’s agents following us and trying to get us back? That’s a terrible plan.” 

Raelle nodded. “And we can’t just leave you here to deal with this alone.” she insisted. “You know that Petra won’t believe you. You’ll get arrested!” 

Anacostia sighed. “We don’t know that for sure.” she said. “Listen, girls-” 

Scylla interrupted her. “We can’t just leave, Sergeant. We have to help you stop her!”

Anacostia gave her a look, frowning. “I know that this isn’t the best situation, but this is the best plan for now. You girls leave tonight and dodge Petra’s agents. I can stay here and act as an informant. Once I get enough intel to be useful, we can launch an actual affective attack.” 

The girls remained silent, clearly still displeased with this line of thinking. 

Anacostia sighed, grabbing a small object from her pocket. “Take this,” she said, handing it to Abigail. 

It was a small scry. Abigail gripped it a bit tighter in her hands as she looked up at Anacostia. 

“Craven should be able to use it to communicate with me when necessary.” the Sergeant told them.

Raelle gave Anacostia a helpless look. “Sergeant, we can’t just-” 

Anacostia gave her a hard look. “You can, and you will, Collar.” she told her. “Regardless of your personal feelings and opinions, I know Petra. And I know that she  _ will  _ find that knife, no matter how well we hid it. I won’t let you become a slave again, Collar.” 

Raelle sighed, nodding. 

“I want you girls to focus on getting out for right now.” she told them, moving her gaze to look at everyone in the unit. “Don’t try and be a hero. Don’t try and take down Petra.  _ Get. Out.” _

The unit nodded solemnly. 

“Good.” Anacostia said, taking a deep breath. “This is goodbye, then. I won’t be seeing you off, it would be too suspicious.” 

She looked down, a grim look crossing her face.

“Get out, don’t let Petra catch you, and  _ no matter what, _ ” Anacostia said seriously. “Don’t come back for me.” 

Worried looks crossed the girls’ faces. 

“I’ll contact you through the scry as soon as I’m able.” she fixed them with one last look. “Goodbye girls. You’re dismissed.” 

The unit stayed motionless for a moment before Tally launched herself at Anacostia, wrapping her arms around the woman and giving her a tight hug.

Anacostia stiffened for only a moment before hesitantly returning the hug. 

Tally finally pulled away, avoiding Anacostia’s eyes as she quickly left the room. 

Abigail and Scylla followed, giving Anacostia a firm nod before leaving the room. 

Raelle was still standing motionless in the center of the training mat. 

“Collar?” Anacostia addressed. 

“Do you really think she’ll find the knife?” Raelle asked suddenly, looking up at Anacostia with a hint of fear.

Anacostia sighed. “She’ll try.” she admitted. “But I would never tell her where we hid it.”

Raelle swallowed and nodded. “So the soulmate thing is real.” she said softly, looking down at the ground. “Scylla and I are...soulmates.” 

“Seems so.” Anacostia confirmed with a nod. “It's the only thing that explains the power you two have.” 

Raelle shook her head. “We did exactly what the Spree wanted.” she said. “We took down Alder and cleared a path for them to take over.” 

Anacostia rested her hand on Raelle’s shoulder. “We couldn’t have known.” she said. “It’s not our fault, and it’s definitely not your fault for escaping Alder.” 

Raelle nodded, still unsure. 

“Raelle, listen to me.” Anacostia said, grabbing Raelle’s attention with the use of her first name. “You need to stay hidden. If Petra finds you, if she gets her hands on you and Scylla,” she took a breath, composing herself. “Don’t let that happen. You and Scylla’s bond is the key to all of this, I can feel it.” 

Raelle looked at her with a bit of confusion and worry, but she nodded her understanding nonetheless.

“Sergeant?” Raelle asked. 

Anacostia raised her eyebrows. 

“Thank you.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit flees the base and experience the dangers of hitchhiking firsthand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, episode 8 was pretty intense, huh? I'm concerned about Raylla, ngl. Very nervous about episode 9.
> 
> Regardless, it drove me to write a lot more, so I hope you enjoy.

And so, in the dead of night, the unit quietly filed out of their room, hoods covering their faces as they walked through the silent hallways. 

They narrowly dodged the patrol, hugging the wall as the guard passed by their hallway. 

It was easier than expected to leave the base. The guards weren’t watching as the unit slipped off the grounds, plunging into the treeline. 

In silence, the girls trudged through the dark woods, trying to put as much distance as they could between them and the base. 

There was a chill in the air as they walked, and Raelle suppressed a shiver. The thin jacket she was wearing did little to block out the chill carried by the strong wind. 

Scylla walked beside her, gripping her hand tightly and caressing it softly with her thumb. 

It helped to calm the overwhelming nerves running through her.

She could feel the tension in the air as the hours passed and the sun began to rise over the hills. 

At this point, Raelle was almost grateful for the brutal cardio exercises that Anacostia had always forced them to do. It was the only reason she hadn’t collapsed from the amount of walking they were doing. The landscape wasn’t even, with dips and bumps in random places on the forest floor, and it made navigating the area that much harder. 

If Raelle tripped over a tree root one more time she was going to scream. 

Thankfully, as the sun began to rise, the ground became a tad more visible and Abigail assured them that they were close to reaching the main road. 

Currently, Abigail was the only one of them that had knowledge of the area, and she was their guide for the time being. So, Raelle bit back her retort and conceded to Abigail’s directions. 

Soon enough, just as Abigail assured them, they had reached the main road. Unfortunately, it was a large highway that seemed to stretch out for multiple miles. It would take them way too long to walk this to the nearest town. Anyone who had a car could easily catch up to them in the time they spent walking. 

“What’s the plan now?” Scylla asked, raising an eyebrow as she gazed down both sides of the highway, noticing just how far away they were from civilization. 

Fort Salem was an isolated base, they knew, but this was just seemed overkill. 

“We could hitchhike?” Raelle suggested. Abigail turned to give her a flat look. “What?” Raelle said defensively. “I did it a few times in the Cession. It’s annoying to walk everywhere. Beside, we’re a highly trained team of witches. What’s the worst that could happen?” 

Tally gave her a look. “Plenty of bad things could happen.” she said. 

Scylla shrugged. “I mean, Raelle’s not wrong, we’re pretty prepared for any sort of creeper of whatever.” 

“You’re just saying that because you guys are boning.” Abigail said, exasperation clear in her tone. 

Raelle looked over at her and stuck her tongue out. 

Abigail promptly returned it.

“Are we five years old, now?” Scylla asked, stepping between them. “Listen, it’s not an ideal solution, but it’s the only plan we have. Does anyone have any better plans?” 

No one responded, and a smug smile formed on Raelle’s face. 

“Alright,” she said, beginning to walk along the side of the highway. 

The others rolled their eyes as they followed, their thumbs in the air, copying Raelle.

“This is horrible.” Abigail muttered.

They walked for a while before a car finally pulled over next to them, rolling down the window. “Hiya, girlies,” he said, smiling at them. His smile was crooked, full of yellow teeth. He looked around 50 years old, riding in a beaten-down and unwashed truck. A cigarette was propped between his lips as he spoke. “Where you headed?” 

Abigail tried to keep the distaste from her face as Raelle answered. “Yeah, we’re just trying to get to the nearest town,” she replied, giving him a strained smile. “We’d appreciate a ride.” 

Scylla was quietly glad that they hadn’t worn anything that showed their membership in the military. She had a feeling that this man may react poorly at giving four runaway witches a ride. 

“Sure, hop in the bed,” he said, gesturing behind him. 

“Thank you so much,” Raelle said, her smile becoming a tad less forced. She turned to the other girls, giving them an insistent look as she jerked her head towards the bed of the truck. “C’mon guys,” she said, as if sensing their collective hesitation. 

Finally Scylla moved towards the bed, pulling herself in, followed by Tally and Abigail. Raelle went to join them, but she was stopped by the man’s raspy voice calling to her through the window. 

“You gonna let me sit up here all alone, girlie?” he said, his smile almost a leer at this point. 

Raelle swallowed. “I’d rather sit in the bed with my friends, if you don’t mind.” 

The man nodded, eyes narrowing. “You still want a ride, right?” 

Raelle stiffened. She swallowed again before nodding. “Fine, I’ll ride in the front with you.” 

Her unit looked back at her in warning, silently screaming at her not to get into the passenger seat. 

Raelle ignored their looks, opening the door and climbing in next to the man. She was overwhelmed with the smell of cigarette smoke and she resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose.

The man pulled out on the road, and the truck screamed as it roared back to life and struggled to speed up. Raelle kept her eyes focused on the road in front of her, silently counting down the seconds. 

“So,” the man said, glancing over at her. “Where you girls coming from?” 

Raelle tensed. “Just from a small town across the way.” she answered. She had to keep it vague enough that it didn’t draw suspicion, but it would be more suspicious if she didn’t answer the question at all.

“Oh?” he said, one hand on the steering wheel as he grabbed the cigarette from his lips and held it outside the window. “What town is that?”

_ Shit. _

“Oh, I don’t think you would know it.” she said, trying her best to sound casual. “It’s really small, like 40 people.” she forced a laugh. 

The man nodded, smiling a bit as Raelle chuckled. 

Silence overtook the cab as the man drove. 

Raelle tried to control her breathing. It was fine, she told herself. She had nothing to worry about. If anything happened, she was perfectly capable of defending herself 

Then why was she still so nervous?

They drove for roughly fifteen minutes before Raelle finally interrupted the silence. “How far away are we from the nearest town?” 

“Not too long now,” the man answered, not looking at her. 

Raelle nodded, glancing back at the truck bed through the window. 

Abigail and Tally were propped up against the back of the window, but Raelle could see Scylla leaning on the side of the truck bed, catching her eye through the window. Scylla gave her a smile, a bit of concern creeping into her gaze at the apprehension clear on Raelle’s face. 

“So, how do you know your friends back there?” the man asked, ripping Raelle’s attention from her girlfriend. 

“We, uh,” she said, stuttering a bit as she tried to come up with a believable story. “They're my sisters.” she finally answered.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Sisters, huh?” He glanced behind him at the other girls. “You don’t look much alike. At all.”

Raelle swallowed. “Adopted.” she answered bluntly. 

“Ah,” the man answered. “So you’re all pretty close?” 

Raelle nodded. “Very.” 

The man glanced over at her. “You don’t seem very talkative, blondie,” he commented. 

Raelle struggled to contain her anger at the nickname. “It’s been a long morning.” 

The man grunted. “Clearly.” 

Silence again consumed the two as Raelle clenched her jaw. She needed this car ride to end soon. 

As if on cue, the man changed lanes to the far right, taking an exit off the highway. But, as they left the highway, Raelle noticed the sign for the exit. The road they were taking seemed to take them to a campsite of some sort. 

Raelle straightened. “Isn’t the town further up the road?” she asked hesitantly. 

The man simply shook his head, continuing towards the campsite. Raelle internally cursed. How was she supposed to go about this? If she attacked the man, she risked a car wreck, which could injure her sisters in the bed of the truck. If she jumped from the car, she could get hurt, and she would be leaving her unit behind. 

She resolved to let the truck stop before she attacked the man. If nothing else, it would lead to the least messy result. 

“You say you’re coming from a small town?” the man said casually. 

Raelle glanced over at him. “Yep.” 

The man put the cigarette back in his lips as he used both hands to turn onto a secluded dirt road. Raelle tried to control her breathing, looking back at Scylla in alarm. She looked right back at her, similar concern clear in her eyes as she noticed where they were driving. 

She noticed that Tally and Abigail were tensed, their hands drifting towards the bags that held their scourges. 

“You know, it’s funny.” the man commented, not looking at Raelle. “There’s a military base nearby here.” 

Raelle looked outside the window at the forested area. They were getting closer and closer to the campsite, it seemed. “Where are we going?” she asked, her hand hovering against the door handle. 

The man continued as if Raelle hadn’t spoken. “Heard a lot about witches trying to run away from the base.” he said, and Raelle felt a chill run down her spine at the man’s words. 

He finally pulled to a stop in front of a run-down cabin, and before Raelle could jump out of the car, the man had quickly locked the doors and turned on the radio. Instead of a song, though, the only thing coming from the small speaker was a high-pitched screeching sound that immediately gave Raelle a headache. She knew it nulled her powers, and Raelle felt rage consume her at the sound.

With a snarl, she lunged over at the man, intent on slamming his head into the window. 

However, faster than any civilian should have been able, the man’s hand shot up, grabbing hold of the Raelle’s neck and launching her head into the dashboard of the truck. 

Scylla could only watch in horror as Raelle’s head was brutally slammed against the dashboard and she went limp.

A snarl ripped itself from her lips, and before her mind could catch up, Scylla had hopped out of the bed and sprinted over to the driver’s door. 

She pulled at the handle, only for the door to remain closed. Glaring up at the man, she noticed the smug grin he had on his face as he jangled his keys in front of the window. 

Before she could scream at the man and shatter the window with a windstrike, an arm had snaked itself around Scylla’s torso, grabbing hold of her and throwing her to the ground. Scylla only barely dodged a brutal kick to the stomach with a desperate roll to the side.

Glancing around quickly, she noticed that Abigail and Tally were locked into a battle with roughly four guys, swinging their scourges threateningly. 

The men seemed unfazed however, suddenly screeching and tossing Tally and Abigail back with a strong windstrike. 

Scylla looked up at the man she was fighting with wide eyes. “You’re witches?” she asked. 

The man didn’t answer, only giving her a smile before slamming his boot into Scylla’s side without warning. 

Scylla groaned, immediately curling within herself. However, before the man could land another blow, she hummed a low seed, and lightning was suddenly crackling in her fingertips. She met eyes with the man briefly, giving him a wicked smile before she struck the man with a strong bolt. He immediately collapsed, groaning with pain and twitching uncontrollable at the electricity still jolting through his body. 

Scylla stood, glancing over at Tally and Abigail to see if they were okay. They seemed as though they were handling themselves well, two of the attackers already motionless on the ground. 

Scylla instead sprinted back to the door of the truck, wasting no time before screaming at the window and shattering glass all over the man. 

He grunted with pain as some shards embedded themselves in his face, but he had no time to recover before Scylla had unlocked the door, reaching through the window and grabbing the keys. 

She ripped open the door, grabbing the man by the collar and roughly pulling him from the driver’s seat, leaving him sprawled against the dirt. 

He made a small attempt at an attack, singing a soft seed that caused the earth beneath Scylla to shift. However, the seed was weak, and Scylla easily kept her balance, continuing her path towards the man and launching her foot into his face. 

He let out a cry of pain, bringing his hand up to his face to clutch his nose, blood pouring from the nostrils. 

Scylla gave him a sickly sweet smile before grabbing him once again by the collar of his shirt, bringing him to eye-level with her. “You’re a miserable excuse for a witch, you know that?” she said, disgust clear on her face. “Turning on your own kind? For what? Money?” 

The man sneered at her. “The pay’s good,” he said. “Generals don’t need their cadets running away into the night so they hire people like us. I’m doing a public service.” 

Scylla narrowed her eyes in hatred before she launched a knee into the man’s groin, watching with satisfaction as he cried out in pain, crumpling onto the dirt. 

Before he could recover any more, she slammed her boot into the man’s face yet again, this time knocking him unconscious.

She turned at the sound of Tally’s voice. The redhead screamed at the last man, launching her scourge at him. It hit him hard in the chest, and he was thrown back against a nearby tree, knocked out cold from the force of the blow. 

Breathing hard, the girls took a moment to recollect themselves, looking around the campsite, the fallen forms of the men littered on the dirt. 

“What an asshole.” Abigail said finally, blowing a strand of hair from her face. 

“Totally.” Tally agreed, nodding breathlessly. 

Scylla just sighed and ran over to the passenger door of the truck, throwing it open. Raelle was still motionless, her forehead leaned against the dashboard where she had been hit. 

Gently, Scylla grabbed her girlfriend’s shoulder and pulled her back from the dash, wincing when she noticed the blood that coated both the surface of the dash and Raelle’s scraped forehead. 

Looking over Raelle’s face, she noticed the bruise that was already forming in the center of her forehead. There was a nasty cut where she had been hit, and it was lightly bleeding down the side of her face. 

Scylla sighed, brushing away some of the blood and taking a deep breath. 

Tally and Abigail walked over to join her, giving Raelle’s unconscious form a concerned look. “Is she okay?” Tally asked. 

“Yes,” Scylla said. “She’s fine. Just unconscious. I want to try something, though.” 

Abigail and Tally remained silent as Scylla grabbed Raelle’s limp hand, squeezing it tightly as Scylla attempted to call on their bond. 

It was almost easier than it should have been. Connecting their powers came naturally, and without much trouble, Scylla could suddenly feel Raelle’s power tingling under her fingertips. She withheld a gasp at the newfound energy, trying to focus on the task at hand. 

She held her hand up to Raelle’s forehead, lightly pressing against the cut and the bruise. 

“Ask, and it shall be given to you,” Scylla muttered softly, calling upon both her and Raelle’s energy to heal the wound.”Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” 

Abigail and Tally watched as the golden light once again consumed the area Raelle and Scylla occupied. 

“For everyone that asketh, receiveth.” scylla continued. “And he that seeketh, findith. To him that knocks, it shall be open.” 

When Scylla lifted her fingers as the golden light ebbed away, clear, unblemished skin replaced the bruising that had been there previously. 

Abigail sighed, clapping her hands together. “Alright! That was fun,” she said, moving closer to Scylla and holding out her hand. "But we should get on the road. Keys, please?” 

Scylla blinked a few times before reaching into her pocket and handing Abigail the keys to the truck. 

Abigail took them, giving her a nod before crossing over to the driver’s side. “Let’s steal this dick’s truck!” 

Tally cheered as she clamored into the backseat, followed by a still-dazed Scylla.

Scylla leaned over to the broken window, peeking her head at Abigail as she buckled her seatbelt. “Where are we going?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Abigail stilled for a moment, her face thoughtful. “I’m not sure.” she admitted, shaking her head. “For now, let’s just focus on trying to find somewhere to stay for the night. I’m not keen on sleeping in the truck bed.” 

Scylla nodded her agreement before retreating back to the bed. 

As an afterthought, though, she quickly returned to the window. “Make sure Raelle is buckled in before we start driving.” 

Scylla leaned back before she could see Abigail’s eye roll. “Ugh, you guys are  _ gross _ ,” she said. 

But she did lean over and buckle Raelle’s seatbelt. Not because Scylla told her to, of course.

Because safety comes first.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit finds a place to stay and decide on a plan of action.

They ended up crashing at someone’s abandoned house for the night, using a rune to open the locked door. It seemed as if the family who lived here was out of town or something like that. 

They did their best to avoid messing with any belongings, but they did raid the fridge for some food, ending up with a frozen package of vegetables that they promptly put in the microwave. 

Peeking in the pantry, Raelle scrounged up a package of dry pasta. Within minutes she had already put a pan of water on the stove and was waiting for it to come to a boil. 

Scylla walked over as Tally and Abigail further explored the house. She wrapped her arms around Raelle’s waist and rested her head on the girl’s shoulders as she waited for the water to boil. 

“Do you know how to cook?” Scylla asked, humming a bit as Raelle leaned back into her. 

“No, not really,” Raelle replied. “But we didn’t exactly have a lot of options with meals in the Cession, so I learned to get pretty creative.” 

“Creative?” 

“Like, I learned how to make a meal out of basically nothing.” Raelle said, reaching over to pout the dry noodles in the pot as the water began to boil. “We usually only had two or three ingredients to work with, and a limited supply of spices and things like that. So, I learned how to cook very simple meals. Like pasta.” 

Scylla nodded. “Same here,” she said. “We were on the run a lot, so we ended up taking food wherever we could get it.”

Raelle hummed her acknowledgement as she stirred the noodles. 

“We didn’t end up having many home-cooked meals.”

Raelle reached back, grabbing Scylla’s hand and squeezing it.

Scylla smiled a little as Raelle moved back and searched the cabinets for a strainer. After a couple tries, she finally located it in a lower cabinet. Scylla grabbed the noodles for her as Raelle turned off the burner, pouring the noodles into the sink. 

After a bit of searching, Raelle and Scylla found some spices and seasonings, and with a bit of finagling, they were able to whip up a vegetable noodle spaghetti combination that didn’t taste half bad. 

They shrugged, separating the noodles into four portions. Calling in the other unit members, they set the table with some utensils they found in the drawers and grabbed some water bottles from the pantry. 

Maybe they should have been more careful about everything they used, since they were in a stranger’s house after all, but they couldn’t bring themselves to care as they all sat down at the table and dug in. 

“This is actually really good, Raelle,” Abigail commented. 

Raelle threw her a dirty look, mouth full of pasta. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.” she muttered. 

Abigail shrugged, and Tally laughed at Raelle’s complete lack of table manners. 

Dinner passed without incident, and it was mostly silent, everyone too focused on eating to speak to each other. 

When dinner was finished, Abigail and Tally worked on cleaning the dishes and placing them back in their original places, trying their best to make it seem as if no one had been there at all. 

Raelle and Scylla retreated to the living room, collapsing on the couch and sighing. 

“It’s been a weird day,” Scylla noted. 

Raelle nodded. “Totally.” 

There was a moment of silence. 

“So,” Raelle said. “You healed me.” 

“Yep.” Scylla confirmed with a nod. 

“That’s pretty impressive,” she commented. “Considering I wasn’t conscious and you didn’t even absorb the injury.” 

Scylla shrugged. “You’ve been teaching me how to heal for the last few months, and connecting our powers was pretty easy, even when you were out cold. And you know our energy combined is enough that neither of us have to take the injury when we heal together.” 

Raelle nodded. “Yeah.” 

Scylla sat up, noticing her change in tone. “You okay?” 

Raelle sighed a little, looking up at the ceiling. She was still draped across the couch, her back arching over the armrest. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I just wish that guy didn’t get to me as much as he did. He shouldn’t have been able to knock me out that fast.”

Scylla grabbed her hand. “Hey, it’s not your fault that happened.” she assured Raelle. “None of us expected the guy to be a witch, much less a hunter.” 

Raelle nodded, still frowning. 

Scylla squeezed her hand slightly, meeting her eyes as Raelle sat up a little. 

She sighed. “I guess it was just...scary when I woke up, you know.” she told Scylla. “I didn’t know where I was for a second. It reminded me of…” 

Raelle trailed off, but Scylla knew what she was talking about. 

Scylla leaned over, wrapping the girl in a warm hug. “You know I would never let that happen. Never again.” she assured her. 

Raelle leaned into the hug, nodding. 

They both pulled away when they heard Tally and Abigail entering the room, stretching their arms with an exaggerated sigh. 

“Alright, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m beat.” Tally said, a yawn punctuating her sentence. 

Everyone nodded their agreement. 

“We have to leave tomorrow,” Abigail told them. “We can’t afford to be so close to the base now that my mo--now that the General has probably noticed her absence. Any ideas on where we can go?” 

Everyone remained silent for a second, thinking over the possible options. 

“We could go to the Cession?” Tally suggested. She looked over at Raelle. “Your dad’s still there, right?” 

Raelle furrowed her brows, unsure. “I’m not sure if that‘s the best idea.” she said. “If Petra’s agents are able to track us somehow, I don’t want to lead them right to my dad. Is there anywhere else?” 

“I know an old Spree safehouse near the Cession,” she said. “It’s almost definitely out of use now.” 

“Are you sure?” Abigail asked, raising an eyebrow. “‘Almost definitely’ doesn’t sound incredibly confident.” 

Scylla shrugged. “It’s from years ago,” she told them. “If anyone would still use it, it’d probably be an individual agent, someone we could easily handle.” 

Everyone seemed to hesitate. “I don’t know,” Tally said finally. “It seems a little too risky.” 

Scylla nodded, turning to the others. “Any other suggestions?” 

No one spoke. 

Finally Abigail broke the silence. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll sleep on it and decide in the morning. If we can’t decide on anything definite by morning, we’ll start heading in the general direction of the Cession. It’s far enough from here that we can decide on a solid plan of action on the way there.” 

The unit nodded, agreeing that it was a solid plan. 

“I’ll take first watch,” Raelle volunteered. “I already slept on the ride here.” 

Scylla rolled her eyes at her phrasing. “You were unconscious, stupid.” 

Raelle shrugged. “Same difference.” she said. “I’ll wake you up in a few hours for the next watch, cool?” she asked Abigail. 

The Bellweather nodded, already heading up the stairs in search of the bedrooms, Tally following close behind her, face scrunched in a yawn as she did. 

Scylla remained for a moment, hand still gripping Raelle’s. She gave Raelle a questioning look.

“I’m fine, Scyl, really,” Raelle insisted. “Go get some sleep, I’ll join you later.” 

After a moment, Scylla nodded, giving Raelle a quick kiss before retreating up the stairs. 

With that, Raelle settled in for the next couple of hours, monitoring the doors and windows closely. 

* * *

They were on the road early the next morning, having slipped in some short showers before they left. 

Raelle had been the last to wake up and she was forced to rush her shower. As she sat in the bed of the truck, hair still slightly wet and unbraided, she scowled and tried her best to avoid the roaring wind. 

Scylla laughed a little as she noticed Raelle’s unhappy expression, but her eyes softened when their gazes met. Raelle gave her a small smile. 

“I’ll braid your hair when we stop later,” Scylla yelled over the wind. 

Raelle’s face scrunched up with her smile, and she seemed to relax, leaning back against the window of the truck. 

Their bags were littered across the bed, filled to the brim with various clothes, weapons, and necessities. Unfortunately, that meant that they weren’t the best pillows to use. 

Scylla shifted for what felt like the 30th time in twenty minutes, trying her best to reposition her head in a way that was comfortable. 

Glancing over at Raelle, who was gazing mindlessly off into the distance, her damp hair flying every which way, Scylla had an idea. 

She sat up, moving towards her girlfriend and leaning down, laying her head down on Raelle’s thigh. She nearly cried at how comfortable it was compared to the bags, and she smiled happily when Raelle didn’t even react to the contact. 

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, taking the time on the road to rest. 

Before she knew it, Raelle was gently shaking her shoulders, jolting her out of her sleep. 

She opened her eyes and forced herself to sit up, leaning back against the truck window next to Raelle. 

In front of them, Tally and Abigail were climbing into the bed of the truck, serious looks on their faces. Scylla glanced around, noticing that they were parked on the side of what looked like a secluded gas station. No other car seemed to be in the area besides the beaten sedan parked beside them. 

“Okay,” Abigail said, leaning against the side of the bed and fixing them all with an intense look. “First of all, we have no money. We could probably get away with stealing anything essential for a little while, but it’s not a long-term strategy.” 

Tally narrowed her eyes at the suggestion of stealing anything, but she remained quiet. 

“Second, we still haven’t decided exactly where we’re going.” she said, holding up her second finger. “We’ve been driving for a couple hours now, so we’re about halfway to the Cession. We need to decide on a destination soon.” 

Everyone nodded, waiting for Abigail to continue. 

“Third, we need to decide on an actual plan of action.” she said. “This runaway thing won’t last indefinitely. We need to decide what we’re doing, whether it be going back and helping Anacostia with the General eventually, or working from the outside to take down the Spree. We need to have a plan.” 

The unit seemed to pause, thinking. 

“As for where we’re going,” Raelle spoke, looking up. “We can head to my Pa’s place. It’s small, and it won’t support us for very long, but the people there are loyal. They won’t rat us out.” 

“So you understand the risk?” Abigail asked, eyebrows raised as if asking if Raelle was sure. 

Raelle took a breath. “Yeah, I understand.” she looked down. “I’ll make sure and put some defensive runes and such on the property and the house. Just in case.” 

Abigail nodded, eyes shining with respect. 

“For money,” Scylla said, cutting in. “I know where we can find a stash. I was with some dodgers for a while, we always had cash hiding around. It’s on the way,” she told them, apprehension clear in her eyes when she mentioned her dodger history. 

Thankfully, both Abigail and Tally showed no reaction at the mention of draft dodging, instead nodding at her. “Good call, Ramshorn,” Abigail said. 

Scylla’s eyes widened at the comment, a little surprised at how unaffected Abigail was by her past. 

“As for our plan…” Raelle trailed off, looking up at all of them, her face a little helpless as she struggled to form any real ideas.

Everyone remained silent. 

“Well,” Abigail said, shrugging. “We solved two out of three problems. That was honestly more than I was expecting.” 

The unit collectively sighed in agreement. 

“We still have more time to debate on it,” Abigail continued, squaring her shoulders.”We can do this.” 

Everyone nodded, exchanging glances. 

“Guys,” Raelle said. “This is a shitty situation, but I would rather be with you guys in a shitty situation than anyone else.”

Scylla laughed at Raelle’s comment, ignoring her girlfriend’s indignant look. “What?” She asked, hands raised in the air. “I was being genuine!” 

Scylla rested her hand on Raelle’s shoulder, letting her laughter die down. “I know, Rae. The way you phrased it was just funny.” 

Raelle pouted as Abigail began to scramble out of the truck. Abigail leaned against the bed, looking at them with a mischievous expression. “Snacks, anyone?” 

The girls fixed her with a confused gaze as Abigail left the truck and began to walk towards the entrance. 

“Abigail, wait!” Tally called. “What're you doing, we don’t have any money-- she’s not listening.” 

Tally huffed, standing up from the bed and hopping out of the back, jogging after Abigail, catching up right as Abigail entered the building. 

Raelle sighed, rubbing her eyes in exasperation. “We’re so screwed.” she said, turning to Scylla. 

Scylla shrugged. “Probably,” she answered bluntly. “But we’ve beaten the odds before.” 

She turned back towards Raelle with a smile. “Let me braid your hair,” she said, motioning for Raelle to turn to the side. 

Raelle conceded, turning her head to face the store, watching the entrance as Scylla began to braid the girl’s short blonde locks. 

Scylla nimble fingers were able to twist the hair into small, exact braids along the side of Raelle’s scalp, and Raelle was impressed by how fast she was able to do it. 

“You seem pretty good at this,” Raelle commented, withholding a wince as Scylla tugged particularly hard at a strand.

Scylla hummed, focused on her work. “My mother taught me when I was younger,” she said quietly, eyes not moving away from Raelle’s hair. “She always said that braids were important for witches. That they were a symbol of pride.” 

Raelle let loose a sigh. “My mama told me the same thing.” Raelle said. “I only started braiding my hair like this after she died.” 

Scylla nodded. “The little braid I always have in my hair?” she said, briefly gesturing to the side of her head, where a small braid was indeed present in her dark hair. “It’s really small, and it’s hard to notice, but I always make sure to wear it. I like to think it keeps me connected with my mom. With my family, even though they're gone.” 

Raelle nodded with understanding, and before she knew it, Scylla was lightly tapping her shoulder to signal that she was finished. 

Raelle turned to her, feeling the side of her head, running her fingers down the braids. She smiled at Scylla, her eyes crinkling. “Thank you, Scyl. It’s perfect.” 

Scylla easily returned the smile, nodding. “No problem,” she said. “I should do this more, you have such pretty hair.” 

Raelle suppressed a blush, smirking. “I’m glad you think so, Beautiful.” 

Scylla rolled her eyes. “Stop being flirty, stupid,” she said. “I’m trying to give you a compliment, just take it.” 

Raelle’s grin only widened, signalling that she was absolutely  _ not _ going to stop being flirty, only to be interrupted by the yells of Abigail and Tally as they sprinted out of the store. 

A large man followed closely behind, waving his fist in the air at them. 

“Raelle, go!” Abigail yelled, and Raelle’s eyes widened as she jumped out of the bed of the truck, throwing herself into the driver’s seat and shifting the car into reverse. At dangerous speeds, she backed up and shot out of the small parking lot, Abigail and Tally barely jumping into the bed before they took off, their arms full of various snacks and drinks. 

Scylla was left staring at them in shock, speechless. 

Abigail and Tally were consumed by breathless laughter, collapsing onto the floor of the bed as they breathed heavily. 

“Tried to take a few snacks,” Abigail explained, speaking in between her gasping breaths. “Went wrong.” 

“Very wrong,” Tally added, giggling a bit. 

Scylla looked at them incredulously, glancing around at the snacks and sodas that littered the bed of the truck. “I can see that,” she commented, alarm still lacing her tone. “Did you really think that we needed  _ all of this? _ ” 

Abigail lifted an indignant finger in the air, still breathing hard. “Preparedness is a prerequisite for victory.”

“Uh huh,” Scylla said, eyes still wide. Before she could address everything wrong with  _ that _ , the truck seemed to swerve dangerously, slowing abruptly as Raelle pressed the brakes.

She leaned her head out of the still-broken window, yelling to her unit in the back seat, panic clear in her voice. 

“I don’t know if now is the best time to mention it!” she yelled, her hands white-knuckling the steering wheel. “But I’ve only driven a car, like,  _ two times!” _

Abigail immediately sat up. “Okay!” she screamed back. “Pull over!”

Raelle did, although not very smoothly, the unit holding on for dear life as she swerved to the side and practically slammed on the brakes.

Abigail hopped over the side of the bed, landing on shaky legs. Raelle quickly got out of the truck, slamming the door behind her and immediately climbing into the bed once again, looking shaken.

Scylla laughed a little. Raelle shot her a flat look. Scylla stopped laughing, but a smile was still clear on her face. 

Abigail ignored them both, waving to Tally. “Tal, hand me one of those cans of gas back there” she called, already unscrewing the cap of the gas tank. 

Tally obliged, hauling the tank over the side and into Abigail’s waiting arms. 

As Abigail began to refuel the truck, Tally turned and glanced at Raelle, who was still scowling a bit. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Raelle, I love your hair. The braids look really nice.” 

Raelle unconsciously lifted her hands to touch the braids, smiling a bit. “Thanks, Tal, Scylla did them for me.” 

Tally nodded, giving Scylla an impressed look. “She should do it more often,” Tally noted. 

Scylla nodded her agreement, giving Raelle a look that she pointedly ignored. “That’s what I said.” Scylla said. “Thank you, Tally.” 

Soon enough, they were back on the road, Scylla and Raelle still sitting in the truck bed as they sped down the small highway.

They snacked on a bag of packaged popcorn as they drove, and Raelle laid down against the floor of the truck bed, looking up at the passing clouds as they drove.

Scylla reached over and held her hand, laying flat beside her, equally transfixed by the sky. 

They were on their way to the Cession. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit meets Raelle's father and Anacostia finally initiates contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got a long one here, boys
> 
> Also i want to thank everyone for your comments and kudos, they really help give me motivation to continue this story.
> 
> pls comment if you enjoy!!

They briefly stopped at a small, empty park about twenty minutes out from Raelle’s home. Scylla told them to wait in the truck as she ran into the trees, disappearing for a few minutes. 

The minutes seemed to stretch longer the more time she was gone, and just as Raelle was about to leave and follow her, Scylla jogged out of the treeline and back towards the truck, clutching a package in her hand. 

“There’s around $350 in there.” she said, handing the package to Abigail through the window. “Should be enough to support us until we figure out what to do.”

Abigail nodded as she passed the money over to Tally, who put the package in the glove box. “Thanks, Scylla, we really appreciate it.” Abigail said, giving her a sincere look. 

Scylla swallowed the lump in her throat. “No problem.” she forced out, making her way back towards the truck bed, rejoining Raelle. 

Raelle immediately grabbed her hand, sensing that Scylla was struggling with being here. It reminded her too much of her past. Too much of her parents. 

It reminded her of the days when they’d jump around from town to town, leaving stashes of supplies, just in case they returned one day. She remembered her parents drilling her about the importance of having a backup plan. A way out. 

She didn’t have a way out now. Looking at Raelle and meeting her worried gaze, she knew she was all in. 

Raelle seemed to sense her apprehension at the situation, squeezing her hand a bit tighter and giving her a comforting smile 

Scylla sighed before quirking her lips up in a returned smile. They stayed like that for the rest of the trip, holding on tight to each other and letting the silence remain comfortable and pleasant. 

The twenty minutes seemed to pass by in a flash, and before they knew it, Abigail was pulling the truck over to the of the road, getting out and giving Raelle an expectant look. “You’re going to have to help me navigate from here.” she said, waving her towards the front as Tally hopped out of the passenger seat. “We’re at the edge of the Cession right now, you should be able to navigate us to your dad’s, right?”

Raelle sighed, lifting herself from the bed and hopping over the side. “Should be,” she said, taking a seat in the front. 

Raelle took a deep, calming breath as they began to drive again. She quietly directed Abigail through the Cession, the roads becoming progressively more run down and bumpy as they progressed. 

Eventually, they reached a point where the road cut off entirely, the asphalt replaced with patchy grass. 

Raelle avoided Abigail’s gaze as the Bellweather looked at her in confusion. “Just pull off to the side, here.” Raelle told her, pointing to the right. “We’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Abigail didn’t have time to respond as she pulled off to the right and Raelle practically jumped from the car. She immediately moved to the bed, holding her hand out for Scylla to help her down. 

Scylla accepted, landing a little hard on stiff legs. Tally followed behind, giving a groan and stretching her arms dramatically.

“We’ll walk the rest of the way,” Raelle repeated to them, already moving towards the grassy patch of road, closely followed by her unit. 

Raelle held onto Scylla’s hand tightly as she walked. Her gaze was pointed downward, as if trying not to draw any attention to them. It didn’t work very well though, and Scylla and the others noticed the numerous suspicious glances they got, as well as some looks full of recognition and shock when someone saw Raelle’s blonde hair and braids. 

Thankfully, no one stopped them or tried to talk to them as they followed Raelle through the area. The houses were progressively becoming more rundown, the grass untrimmed and long. 

Raelle finally looked up when they reached the end of the stretch, punctuated by the tall, thick grass that prevented anyone from walking any further. 

They walked onto the front porch of the house at the end, and the unit held their breath as Raelle held her hands up against the door, preparing to knock. 

She hesitated, her hand hovering in a fist about an inch from the wood. 

Just as Scylla was about to say something, they were interrupted by the door opening suddenly, revealing a tall, gruff man who looked around 45 years old. 

His eyes widened, and he dropped the beer bottle he held in his right hand, the bottle loudly bouncing against the wood of the porch. 

“Raelle?” he asked quietly, looking at Raelle with a mixture of shock and relief. Raelle tried not to focus on the brimming tears in his eyes. 

“Yeah, Pa,” she said, giving him a smile. “It’s me.” 

Her dad wasted no time before wrapping her in a tight hug, releasing a shaking sigh as Raelle quickly hugged him back. 

They stayed like that for a few moments before Raelle finally pulled back, smiling at her dad with tearful eyes. 

Her dad looked up, as if finally realizing that there were other people there, and he quickly wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. “What’re you doin’ here, Rae?” he asked, his brows furrowed. “Who are these girls?” 

Raelle opened her mouth, then closed it. She was unsure of how to continue. Abigail glanced around them, her expression nervous. “Maybe it would be better if we continued this inside?” she asked, giving the man a forced smile.

Edwin Collar narrowed his eyes before stepping aside, motioning for the unit to come inside. Raelle entered first, faulting a little in her step as she noticed the beer cans and trash littering the floor of the living room. She glanced into the kitchen, her face dropping into an expression of worry as she noticed the mess in the sink and the trash covering the counters. 

“Ah,” Edwin said, noticing her look. “It’s a little messy. Wasn’t expectin’ any company.” 

Raelle looked back at him, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry to ask this,” she said quietly. “But we really need somewhere to lay low for a few days.” 

Her dad looked at her disbelievingly for a few seconds, as if asking if she was serious. When Raelle’s face didn’t change, he sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, of course,” he said. “But you have to explain what’s going on first.” 

The group exchanges glances. Edwin looked around at them, confusion and worry clear on his face. “What happened, Raelle?” he asked, his eyes fixing on his daughter’s conflicted expression. 

Just as Scylla was opening her mouth to explain, Raelle held up her hand, signalling that she didn’t have to. “I’ll explain everything, Pa.” she said, taking his hand. “Can we go to my room, though? I don’t want to tell you everything with my unit here.” 

Raelle didn’t look at her sisters as Edwin hesitated before nodding. He followed her to her room, and he closed the door behind them. 

Scylla, Abigail, and Tally were left in the living room of the small house, staring after their sister as she retreated to her room. 

“How much do you think she’ll tell him?” Tally asked, turning to face her sisters. 

Scylla’s eyes were still trained on the close door as she answered, a frown on her face. “I think she’ll tell him all of it.” she said. 

There was a moment of silence before Abigail unceremoniously collapsed on the couch with a groan. “This whole situation is so fucked.” she said to the ceiling. 

Scylla looked over at her flatly while Tally furrowed her brows. “Yeah,” Tally agreed. “What exactly is making you realize this now?” 

Abigail looked up at her, unimpressed. “I don’t know Tally,” she said sarcastically. “I’ve been driving a shitty truck the whole day now, we’re in the middle of nowhere with no idea what to do, and, on top of all that, we’re about to ruin some poor man's life when he hears the his daughter was captured by a terrorist organization, tortured and enslaved by her own general, and then forced to go on the run to prevent any of that from happening  _ all over again _ .” 

A heavy silence consumed the room as Abigail breathed heavily from her outburst. Tally blinked a little. “Well,” she said quietly. “When you put it like that…” 

She trailed off, but everyone knew what she was thinking. 

Scylla sighed, walking over and collapsing on the couch next to Abigail. “We’re so fucked.” she agreed quietly. 

Tally was left standing, looking at her sisters in anguish. “Guys, no, stop,” she insisted, drawing their attention. “We just need to put our heads together and come up with a plan.” 

Scylla and Abigail frowned. “What’re we supposed to do, Tally?” Abigail asked. “We can’t fight the Spree on our own, and Anacostia warned us against going back to Fort Salem, and honestly? I agree. We’re in way over our heads right now.” 

Tally slumped at Abigail’s comments. “So, you just want to go on, knowing that the leader of the military also happens to be the leader of the terrorist organization the military is fighting?” 

Abigail sighed, putting her head in her hands. “Of course not, Tal,” she said. “I just don’t know where to go from here. My mother is definitely looking for us by now, and we’re way outnumbered. Our only ally is Anacostia, and it’d be a miracle if she hasn’t been arrested yet.” 

There was a moment of silence as everyone seemed to accept the hopelessness of their situation. 

Then, suddenly, Tally perked up. “Anacostia!” she cried, fishing desperately in her pocket. 

“I already told you, Tally, she’s likely already been caught-” 

“No!” Tally said, pulling the scry from her pocket. “Anacostia is contacting us!” 

The unit’s eyes widened and they leaned in as Tally quickly sat between them, holding the scry in front of them. 

Everyone held their breath as nothing seemed to appear on the face of the scry for a moment. Then, just as Abigail and Scylla were beginning to doubt, Anacosti’s face appeared on the small piece of glass. She seemed to be leaning down into the scry, her face close to the reflection. 

“Sergeant,” Tally said into the scry. “Are you okay?” 

“I don’t have much time, girls,” Anacostia spoke quickly, looking around nervously as she spoke. “But I have information.” 

The girls nodded, waiting for the Sergeant to continue. 

“There is a Spree compound, near the edge of the Cession.” Anacostia told them, her voice low. “It’s where they store many of their weapons and general supplies. If you girls were to take it down, it would land a heavy blow against the Spree.” 

Tally furrowed her brows. “But, Sergeant,” she said. “Why would we take out a Spree compound? Doesn’t that just help Bellweather in the long run?” 

Anacostia nodded. “Yes, it does, but members of the Spree still believe in their cause. They don’t know that the person giving them orders is General Bellweather. The Spree are still launching attacks against innocent civilians, and people are still dying.” 

The unit sobered a bit, frowning at the mention of more Spree attacks. They knew how deadly they could be. 

Anacostia continued. “Bellweather is doing nothing to stop these attacks,” she said, anger creeping into her voice. “She wants to build fear so that she can swoop in and miraculously save everyone. I say we stop the Spree attacks before they happen. Before Bellweather kills innocent people and controls people through fear.” 

The unit nodded, their faces becoming determined. “We’ll take out the compound, Sergeant, just tell us where it is.” Abigail told her. 

Anacostia gave them the coordinates, saying the numbers so fast that even Scylla had trouble memorizing them. 

“Where’s Collar?” Anacostia asked when she had finished. The unit could hear the worry in her voice. 

“She’s fine,” Tally answered. “We’re at her-” 

“Don’t tell me where you are.” Anacostia interrupted bluntly. “If I do get compromised, I don’t want to know where you girls are.” 

The unit nodded, blanching at the idea of Anacostia becoming compromised. 

“Girls, I have to go,” Anacostia said, looking over her shoulder. “Good luck. You can do this.” 

The girls watched as Anacostia’s image abruptly disappeared from the scry, and they were left staring at the small piece of glass in shock. 

“Well,” Scylla said. “At least we know what to do now.” 

Abigail and Tally nodded. 

“This will be difficult,” Abigail noted. “If it’s an entire compound holding important weapons and such, there’s bound to be impressive security guarding it.” 

The unit nodded in agreement, but before they could further discuss, there was a bang from the other room. Scylla stood up immediately, concerned for her girlfriend. 

Just as she was about to go check on her, Scylla was interrupted by the door flying open, slamming hard against the back wall. Raelle’s dad burst through the doorway, an angry expression set on his face. 

He stormed down the hallway, followed closely by Raelle, who was yelling at him to stop, to  _ listen to her.  _

It was useless, however, when Edwin Collar walked up to Scylla, his face burning with hatred. 

Scylla backed up a little, only to be followed as Edwin got in her face. “You lied to my little girl, huh?" He spat. His breath stank of alcohol and Scylla resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose at the smell. “You almost got her killed!” he screamed, only to be pulled back by Raelle. 

“Pa, stop!” she yelled, tears forming in her eyes. 

Her dad ripped his arm from her grasp, using it to push Scylla against the back wall. Scylla kept her face impassive as the man screamed at her. “You worked with the Spree! You got her captured!” 

“Pa!” Raelle screamed. “Don’t touch her!” 

Her dad didn’t listen, and suddenly his hand was wrapped around Scylla’s throat and she was slammed against the back wall, looking at Raelle’s dad with wide eyes. 

At once, time stopped. 

Everything in the room seemed to fly into the air, flinging in all different directions as Raelle yelled at her dad to  _ stop. _

Edwin only removed his hands when the lamp sailed past his head, slamming into the wall and promptly shattering. 

As Edwin turned to look at his daughter in shock, his eyes widened at the sight of Raelle’s glowing blue eyes and her livid expression. 

“Don’t touch her.” she repeated again, her voice dripping with power. 

Raelle's dad raised his hands in surrender, staring at his daughter with a mixture of awe and fear. 

At once, it was over as soon as it started. Raelle’s eyes returned to their normal, and she slumped over as the energy seemed to quell. 

She looked up at her dad with tearful eyes. “Damn it, Pa,” she said, voice cracking. “Why don’t you ever  _ listen to me? _ Scylla saved me. She’s the only reason I’m alive right now.” 

Scylla looked up at her, a concerned look on her face as she leaned back against the wall. Raelle met eyes with her briefly before turning to her father once again.

“Do you want to hear the rest of the story, Pa?” she asked, anger clear in her voice. “Or are you going to pull some shit like that again before I explain everything.” 

Edwin looked up at her, regret and shame clear in his eyes, and at once, Raelle’s anger softened. 

Before Scylla could even comprehend all that had happened, Raelle was helping her father up and returning to her room, closing the door behind her once again. 

Scylla turned, looking at Tally and Abigail. They met her gaze, their eyes wide with shock at what just happened. Shards of glass littered the floor from broken appliances, and trash was flung across the entire room. 

“Um,” Tally said, blinking. 

Scylla sighed before standing. She shrugged a little, beginning to move the shards of glass into a small pile. Her unit caught on fast, and soon enough, they were all working on cleaning the mess. 

It was the least they could do. 

As Scylla cleaned, she couldn’t help but replay the scene over and over in her mind. As long as it had been, and as much as she had done to prove herself, Scylla couldn’t help the overwhelming guilt that still gripped her every time she thought of Raelle’s capture. Every time she thought of the Spree and their plans. 

She had been a part of that. She had killed for the Spree. 

It wasn’t something that was just washed away with good deeds. She wasn’t magically a better person because she fell in love with Raelle. 

She had still helped the Spree. And her sins stayed with her no matter how much time passed and no matter how much good she did. 

Her depressing thoughts were cut short when the door to Raelle’s bedroom door opened again, albeit much calmer this time. Scylla started a bit when she realized she had been cleaning for almost half an hour at this point.

The unit watched cautiously as Edwin Collar approached them yet again, an exhausted look clear on his face. Raelle walked behind him, a similar exhaustion weighing on her shoulders as she watched her dad carefully. 

Edwin stopped in the doorway of the living room, hesitating for a moment before looking up at the unit. “I just want to say thank you,” he said, swallowing. “For trying to keep Raelle safe.  He looked up at Scylla. “And, I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “I lost control for a second, and my anger got the best of me. Thank you for saving my girl.” 

Scylla ignored the lump in her throat and nodded. 

Edwin looked up at all of them again. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna go for a walk, clear my head.” 

The unit nodded, glancing towards Raelle, whose face remained unreadable. 

There was silence as Edwin exited the house without a second glance. 

Raelle released a strained sigh as soon as the door closed behind him, and she walked over to the couch and collapsed, her head resting in her hands. 

Scylla moved over, taking the seat beside her as Abigail and Tally walked over to join them. 

“You okay, Rae?” Tally asked, reaching an arm out and squeezing her shoulder. 

Raelle took a shaky breath. She looked a lot like she was holding back tears. “Yeah, Tal, I’m fine.” she said quietly. 

The unit gave her an unconvinced look. 

“No, really, I’m fine,” she repeated, sniffling a little. “That was just... _ a lot. _ ” 

“For sure.” Abigail agreed. 

The unit nodded along with her. 

“My Pa’s a good man.” Raelle said, her gaze pointed downward. “He just gets angry sometimes. He was already struggling since my mama died, and then I got drafted.” 

She sighed. 

“He just doesn’t want to lose me too.” she finished. 

The unit didn’t hesitate before giving her a hug, wrapping their arms around Raelle’s small frame. 

She laughed a little, hugging them back and releasing another shaking breath.

Abigail and Tally finally released her after a few seconds, but Scylla stayed, hugging a little harder. She met eyes with Raelle and smiled an encouraging smile. 

Goddess, she missed their bond. It would be so easy to calm Raelle down right now, or just ease her overwhelming stress. She sighed, pulling back from Raelle and holding her hand instead. 

“Anacostia called.” Tally said suddenly. 

Raelle looked up, alarm clear in her gaze. “What?” she exclaimed. “Is she okay? What did she say?” 

“She seems fine, if a little nervous about getting caught.” Abigail said. 

“She wants us to take down a Spree compound nearby,” Scylla told Raelle. 

Raelle’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry,  _ what?” _

“There’s a base nearby where the Spree hold some of their weapons and such.” Abigail explained. “Anacostia wants us to take it down. She says it will land a huge blow against the Spree if we do.” 

Raelle narrowed her eyes. “But isn’t Bellweather already trying to ‘stop’ the Spree?” she asked, confusion coloring her voice. “To gain respect as a General or some shit?”

“That’s what we said,” Tally replied. “But Anacostia says the Bellweather is letting the Spree attacks continue. She wants to build fear in civilians and the general public so that when she  _ does _ stop the Spree, it will be a huge relief, and she’ll be met with gratitude instead of suspicion.”

Raelle took a second to comprehend before nodding her understanding. “Damn, that’s cold.” she noted. “Letting all those civilians die just for that?” 

“That’s Petra Bellweather for you.” Abigail replied. Instead of the usual bitterness coating her tone, rage was clear in her voice. “A cold-hearted bitch that only cares about herself.” 

Tally immediately reached a hand out and placed it on Abigail’s shoulder, offering her some comfort. 

Abigail tensed for a moment before she relaxed. Anguish and conflict colored her posture and expression. She was clearly struggling with the fact that her mother was responsible for such terrible attacks.

Raelle couldn’t blame her. It was horrible to think about, really. 

Abruptly, the moment ended when Abigail suddenly stood, clearing her throat and moving away from the group. “We’re going to have to do some recon on this compound before we make any move.” she said, her voice unchanging. “Let’s get some sleep tonight, then we’ll go check it out in the morning.” 

The unit exchanged glances and then nodded at their leader.

Without another word, Abigail retreated towards the kitchen, resuming her work on cleaning up the mess. 

As Raelle saw what Abigail was doing, she cringed at the mess covering the floors. 

With a sigh, she stood, moving to the far side of the living room and beginning to pick up the trash and wreckage covering the ground. 

Scylla and Tally looked at each other before joining them, returning to their tasks of cleaning up the house. 

They cleaned for about an hour before everything was picked up. Raelle struggled to not feel guilty at how much stuff she had broken in her tantrum.

Scylla seemed to pick up on her apprehension, and she walked over to her girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss before throwing away the shards of glass she had been carrying to the kitchen. 

The girls all stayed still for a moment, not really knowing what to do now that everything was clean. 

Raelle gave them an answer when she strolled over to the fridge and pulled out a couple beers, offering them to her unit. 

The unit smiled at her, happily taking the beers as they collapsed on the couch once again. It was a smaller couch, so it was a tight fit, but the unit didn’t seem to mind all that much. They joked around and laughed as they sipped at the beers, loosening up a bit after a day and a half of only being tense and nervous. 

The time passed fast, and before they knew it, it was dark outside and when Raelle checked the clock, she was surprised to find it read midnight. 

Tally was already passed out, draped over the armrest of the sofa as Abigail leaned into her. 

Scylla was pressed against Raelle, stroking Raelle’s hair with one hand and gripping Raelle’s hand with the other. 

Raelle was about to suggest that they retreat back towards her room to get some rest, but before she could, the sound of the door slamming open sounded throughout the house.

Raelle tensed as her dad wobbled through the door, a beer bottle gripped in his hand as he swayed. He clumsily shut the door behind him and turned to look at the girls with a smile. “Raelle!” he said, his arms open for a hug. “Raelle, I’m so happy you’re home.”

His smile was large and crooked, full of teeth, and his eyes were unfocused as he looked at the girls. 

Raelle abruptly stood, a frown clear on her face. Scylla looked up at her with concern, her hand still hovering where Raelle’s hair had been. 

Raelle stormed over to him, ignoring his hug and grabbing his arm instead. “You’re not happy, you’re drunk.” she spat, dragging him back towards the hallway. 

“Rae, no,” Edwin slurred, struggling against her grip. “I’m not drunk,” 

Raelle sighed, releasing his hand and crossing her arms at him. “Go to bed.” she said bluntly, not returning his smile. 

“But Raelle,” he said, a frown forming on his face. “You haven’t even introduced your friends to me yet.” 

“And I’m not going to when you're wasted, Pa.” Raelle immediately responded, grabbing his arm once again. 

His eyes narrowed in anger, and he tore his arm from her grip once again. Raelle could only watch in concern as he stumbled over to his unit, holding out his hand and giving them a charming smile. 

“Hello,” he said. “I’m Edwin, Raelle’s father.” 

Abigail hesitated slightly before stiffly shaking his hand with a nod. “Abigail.” 

Edwin shook her hand aggressively, laughing. “So formal!” he exclaimed, looking back at a frowning Raelle. 

Edwin turned to Scylla, his eyes passing over a sleeping Tally, thankfully. 

“Hello,” he said, holding out his hand once again. “Edwin.” 

Scylla glanced over at Raelle momentarily before shaking the man’s hand hesitantly. “Scylla.” she told him, narrowing her eyes. Edwin seemed to not remember what had happened only a few hours ago.

Raelle sighed. “There, Pa, now you know them,” she said, exasperation creeping into her voice. “Please go to bed now.” 

Edwin rolled his eyes. “Loosen up, Rae,” he said, turning to her. “You’re starting to sound like Willa.” 

Raelle’s expression dropped, and she openly glared at her father now. “Go. To. Bed.” she said, anger creeping into her voice. 

Her father sighed and hesitated before walking toward his room, evidently deciding it wasn’t worth the argument. 

As soon as his door shut, Raelle seemed to slump over, taking a deep breath before fleeing into her bedroom. 

Abigail and Scylla exchanged a look. “That was a lot.” Abigail commented. “I think I’m starting to understand why Raelle’s the way she is.” 

Scylla swallowed and nodded. “I’m gonna go…” she trailed off, already standing and starting towards Raelle’s room. 

Abigail nodded, sighing and then settling in for a night on the couch.

Scylla quietly knocked on the door, her ear pressed against the wood. When she heard nothing, she sighed and walked into the room. 

Raelle’s room was small, and mostly undecorated. There were a couple posters littering the wall, and a desk pushed into the corner of the room. Raelle’s bed was pushed into the center of the room, and there was a stool set up next to it, presumably where Raelle had healed her clients. 

Scylla swallowed at the thought of a 17-year-old Raelle sitting on the stool, her teeth bared in pain as she took on others’ injuries just to bring in some money. 

Scylla glanced around the room, noticing Raelle sitting at the desk, her head propped up in her hands. 

Scylla walked over, making sure her steps were loud enough that Raelle heard them. 

“You okay, Rae?” Scylla asked, reaching out towards her. 

Raelle sighed deeply as Scylla’s hand came to a rest on her back. “Yeah, I’m fine, Scyl.” she said, swallowing. “I’m sorry about that, I think Pa’s having trouble dealing with all this.” 

Scylla nodded. “Understandable.” she said. 

Raelle reached her hand up, holding on to Scylla’s as she looked around the room herself. “You know, I used to hang up all of Mama’s letters on my walls.” she told her. “That’s why the walls look so bare now. Pa sent all the letters up to Fort Salem about a month into basic.” 

Scylla sighed, glancing down at Raelle, who looked consumed in her own thoughts. “C’mon, Raelle,” she said, lightly pushing her out of the seat and towards the bed. “Let’s get some sleep.” 

It was a restless night for all of them, but Raelle was glad that her girlfriend was there. She curled into her and was finally able to fall asleep a few hours after the confrontation with her dad. 

Scylla took a bit longer. She was still conflicted, somehow. This soulmate thing was...weird. 

Why would someone like her be destined for Raelle. Raelle, who was instinctively selfless, who was forgiving, caring, and fierce. Raelle, who was the sun. 

Scylla was a necro. Necro’s didn’t normally fit well into relationships, or fit in with people in general, much less someone who shines so bright. Raelle was everything good and bright and real. 

Scylla wasn’t. 

Again, she found herself questioning the validity of this soulmate thing. While it explained the power they had, the ability to combine their abilities and become one, it didn’t explain  _ why _ they fit together. 

She couldn’t help but wonder what this meant for the future. Anacostia had told them that they would bring a great change to the world, and Scylla had a feeling that this change had yet to occur. Petra Bellweather clearly thought that the prophecy had already been fulfilled, but Scylla couldn’t help the feeling that this wasn’t over. 

There was something coming, and whatever it was, Scylla could only hope that her and her sisters made it through. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit goes on a new mission, with unfortunate consequences. Petra and Jessica get a new lead.

After a few days of reconnaissance, the unit was ready to strike. They had been monitoring the compound for hours at a time, memorizing the guard schedule and the amount of people going in and out of the building. 

Raelle’s dad spent most of this time out of the house, presumably walking through the Cession, going to bars, and staying around someone else’s house for a few hours. 

Raelle clearly wasn’t pleased at this turn of events, but she said nothing to her dad. It just hurt that he seemed to be avoiding confronting the issue and spending time with his daughter. As much as she loved her dad, it was hard to see him like this. 

Around a week after their arrival, the unit was gearing up, strapping their scourges to their sides and connecting earpieces so that they could communicate. 

Everyone had a tin can of salva with them, just in case, and if one of them went down, Raelle and Scylla were on standby to heal them. 

Abigail insisted that Raelle and Scylla stay together, as they could land a hard blow against any significant resistance they would meet. 

The pair agreed, although they were clearly hesitant on relying on the bond during battle. While they had improved their technique and were able to combine their powers well enough, there was no telling how one of them would react in the heat of battle. 

The power they possessed was already difficult to control in a safe and isolated environment, but in a combat situation? They weren’t nearly as confident in their abilities.

Nonetheless, they agreed that it was the best plan should they run into trouble. 

Raelle really hoped they didn’t run into trouble this time, but she doubted it would go smoothly. Nothing went smoothly when it came to this unit. 

When the girls were sure they had everything they needed, and everyone was prepared, they left the house around midnight, keeping their heads down as they left the area and made their way back to the truck. 

They didn’t wear their military gear, apprehensive about any negative attention it would draw. Instead, the group wore clothes similar to their training gear, cargo pants and short-sleeved shirts. In addition, they each had backpacks strapped to their backs that held extra medical supplies and various weapons. 

Raelle, of course, opted for her signature sleeveless shirt instead, much to the chagrin of Abigail. The Bellweather argued that it made her more noticable, while Raelle insisted that it was easier to move in. 

Raelle ended up wearing the shirt anyway. 

They finally reached the truck after a few minutes of walking, relieved to see that it was still where they had left it. Even thieves didn’t want to steal the old bucket of bolts, it seemed. 

They piled back into the truck and began driving towards the compound. It was roughly thirty minutes from Raelle’s home, at the edge of the Chippewa Cession. 

The car ride passed in silence, each of the girls lost in their own thoughts. There was a palpable anxiety in the air as they drove towards the compound, and it was clear that the girls were nervous about the mission. 

While they were confident in their training and their abilities, the compound was large. Full of guards surrounding the building, with even more agents waiting inside.

It was a tough mission, even for an entire force of soldiers, much less a single unit of four witches. 

Granted, four incredibly powerful and highly trained witches, but that's besides the point. 

The point was, the unit was walking into a heavily fortified and protected compound and attempting to neutralize it. Since they were unable to spare the time or defenses to actually hold the weapons and the compound, they planned to destroy the supplies and get out of there as fast as they could. 

In her bag, Abigail had around five charges to spread around the compound. Once they were set and armed, the unit could leave the warehouse and detonate the charges with the remote that was held in Tally’s pack. 

Through their surveillance, the unit had already narrowed down the main areas where they would place the charges. There seemed to be a bunker to the east side of the compound that held many of the weapons, while the other supplies were spread around the building in roughly four different places. 

With their five charges, they could destroy enough Spree supplies to land a heavy hit against their forces. Perhaps big enough to prevent any significant attacks against civilians. 

In the time since Raelle’s capture, the Spree had started to branch away from their signature balloon attacks that triggered mass suicide. As Spree influence grew, so too did their attacks. 

Instead of stealth terrorist attacks, the Spree launched full assaults on entire communities. They marched into areas with massive weapons and numerous agents, and left no survivors. 

The fear of the Spree was at an all time high, and more and more people were dying everyday. 

It was this fact that helped keep Raelle focused on the mission. She had to do something to stop these attacks, since it was clear that the General was fine with allowing them to continue.

Anacostia clearly agreed. 

Hopefully, this mission would help quell the attacks for at least a little while. 

Soon enough, they were camped out in their pre-planned rendezvous point.

Abigail quickly turned off the engine, cringing a little at how loud the truck was. As soon as the engine was cut off, silence consumed the area as Raelle and Scylla hopped over the edge of the truck, making brief eye contact before examining the compound in front of them. 

Their rendezvous point was a large hill that was situated about a quarter of a mile from the compound. The hill provided a good vantage point for looking at the whole base, and the unit was easily able to monitor the activity of the compound. 

“Alright, everyone knows the plan, right?” Abigail said, looking at each of them and waiting for their confirmation. “Raelle and Scylla quietly take out the guards outside while Tally and I sneak inside. Once you guys are finished with the outside patrol, we’ll open up the warehouse for you guys. We’ll split up through the base and set the charges. This is a covert op, remember? That means we do this quickly and quietly. Set the charges and get out. Try not to be seen.” 

Everyone nodded. Scylla and Raelle exchanged glances before making their way down the hill.

They approached the compound from the trees, crouching low to avoid detection. Raelle met Scylla’s eyes and directed her towards the right. A series of signals indicated that Raelle would head to the roof of the compound and take care of the soldiers on the left, while Scylla took the soldiers to the right from the treeline. 

Scylla nodded her confirmation, creeping towards the right while Raelle took the salva from her pocket, quickly applying it to her neck. 

She took a deep breath before drifting up towards the roof, her dark clothes blending in with the night sky, keeping her from being seen. 

She quietly landed on the roof, right behind a Spree guard. Quickly, she creeped up behind the guard, placing her hand on his forehead to put him to sleep. He fell limp into her arms, and she eased him quietly to the ground before peeking over the side of the roof. 

As she did this, she was aware of Tally and Abigail creeping into the compound through the roof entrance. She didn’t spare them a glance as she surveyed the landscape.

There were roughly five guards spread out across the left side of the building. Three of them stuck close to the walls of the compound while the two others were patrolling the treeline. 

Raelle took a second to think of her plan of action. With a smirk, she reached into her pocket, once again retrieving her salva and applying more of the drug to her neck. 

When she knew her eyes were glowing a bright silver, she calmly stepped off the building, easing her fall just above the first Spree agent. Making sure to remain quiet, she quickly grabbed the guards forehead, putting him to sleep. She hooked her arms under his before he fell, and without another sound, she drifted back towards the roof, the guard held in her grip. She laid the unconscious man down next to the other with a huff.

She proceeded to do the same with the other two guards, using two more applications of salva. 

For the last two guards, she dropped to the ground quietly, creeping up behind them. She smashed the handle of her scourge into the first guard’s temple. Before the other guard could react, she had already struck out with her scourge, wrapping it around his neck and dragging him towards her. She knocked him unconscious, grabbing the back of his neck and slamming his head against her knee. 

She dragged the two guards into the trees, hiding them under the bushes that marked the end of the forest.

Without another sound, she ran over to the right side of the compound. As she reached the corner, she hugged the wall as she peeked around the corner. 

She could see Scylla creeping through the treeline, her steps soundless. Raelle was impressed with how fluid her motions were as she moved through the trees, muttering quietly under her breath. 

As she walked along the edge of the grass, her muttering proved to be effective. Each guard she was across from fell unconscious as she whispered a low seed. 

However, as she was about to reach the last guard, he noticed that his colleagues were spontaneously dropping to the grass. 

Before he could call out for help, Raelle grabbed the small gadget she kept in one of her pockets, not hesitating before throwing it towards the man with wicked accuracy. 

The small device latched itself onto the man’s neck, and before he could react, the device was activated. The man stiffened as a jolt of electricity flowed through him, and he promptly fell unconscious without another sound.

Raelle quietly approached him, ripping the device from his neck. The tech was completely fried from the electrical pulse. 

Raelle shrugged, tossing the thing to the side as Scylla left the treeline and approached her. “Thanks,” she said quietly. 

“No problem,” Raelle responded, already moving the bodies towards the treeline. Scylla quickly joined, and soon the five guards were piled behind the trees. 

Scylla huffed as she dropped the last guard, emerging from the trees with Raelle. They wasted no time before jogging over towards the bunker entrance, where Abigail and Tally were supposed to let them in. 

They waited outside the doors for what felt like hours. Raelle was just starting to get worried when the doors finally opened with an uncomfortably loud screech. Raelle and Scylla stiffened for a second, not knowing who was opening the door. However, when they saw their unit waiting for them inside, they relaxed slightly, walking into the bunker and joining the others. 

The bunker was large and mostly empty, besides the stockpile of various weapons piled in the corner. Spree bodies littered the ground, and Tally and Abigail breathed heavily as they took off their bags, already ready to continue. 

Raelle narrowed her eyes as she looked around the bunker. “Why such a big bunker for that?” she said, gesturing to the weapons pushed against the side of the wall. The pile included numerous normal guns, as well as a generous selection of magical weapons. There were enchanted scourges lining the walls, no doubt with forbidden spells. Various devices were spread out among the weapons, presumably different types of bombs. 

Most concerning, there were barrels surrounding the pile, likely filled with some sort of noxious chemical or something similar. Raelle shuddered at the thought. She didn’t want to know what exactly was in those barrels.

Scylla shrugged. “They probably keep vehicles and such in the bunker during the day.” she replied. Raelle nodded, glancing once again around the empty bunker.

Thankfully, Abigail distracted her, passing charges to everyone. Raelle grabbed hers and put it in her pocket, feeling vaguely uncomfortable at the unfamiliar weight.

Without wasting any time, Abigail ran over to the weapons in the bunker, slapping the charge on the wall next to the pile and pressing the button on the charge. The device let out a small beep as it began to glow a dark red. It was armed. 

She turned to the others, giving them a nod. Without another word, the girls split up, spreading out through the building.

* * *

Abigail’s section went off without a hitch. She quietly took out two guards before finding yet another stockpile of weapons in a gymnasium area. She set the charge before leaving the room and running back towards the bunker.

Tally had a bit more trouble. There were around four guards in her section, and she was able to take out two before the others noticed her presence. 

A small fight ensued, and Tally was gifted a brutal punch to the jaw and a stray kick to the stomach before she was able to ground the other guards. 

She let out a ragged sigh, catching her breath for a moment before running over to the weapons and arming her charge. She left the room, quickly making her way back towards the bunker. 

Arguably, Scylla had the hardest section of them all. It didn’t hurt that she was just a couple rooms over from Raelle’s section, just in case, but her situation was rather complicated. 

When she crept into the large room, she blanched at the site of at least four war tanks pushed against the far wall. There were at least ten guards all spread throughout the room, equipped with automatic rifles and carefully surveying their surroundings for any intruders. 

Scylla inwardly groaned. What was she supposed to do with this?

She took a deep breath, noticing the series of catwalks lining the ceiling area. That would make this a bit easier. 

Hugging the corner and hiding in the shadows behind a large barrel, she fished around in her pocket, retrieving her supply of salva. She tried not to think of what was inside the barrel as she crept behind it. 

Without a sound, Scylla applied the salva and floated up towards the catwalk, landing softly against the metal walkway. 

She crouched behind the railing, relying heavily on the poor lighting to not be seen. There were about four guards milling around the catwalk, and Scylla tried her best to control her breathing. 

She took out the first guard relatively easily, knocking him unconscious by placing her hand against his forehead and putting him to sleep. She eased him softly to the floor, continuing across the walkway. 

The next two were a little harder, and she had to dodge being seen by the other guard as she knocked them out. 

Thankfully, she took out the last before he could realize that he was now alone in patrolling the catwalk. 

Surveying the situation below her, she sighed. There were three guards posted near the tanks while the others were walking around the opposite wall. 

Relax, she told herself. All she had to do was arm the charge. She didn’t have to take out all the guards.

Noticing the larger vent placed on the wall behind the tanks, she smiled. Without another sound, she dropped to the ground behind the tanks, using another application of salva to achieve this. 

She crouched behind the large machines, quietly placing the charge against the wall and pressing the button on the side. Thankfully the beeping was quiet enough that it didn’t alert anyone towards her presence.

She quietly approached the vent, and as softly as she could, she unscrewed the cover. She had to sing a soft seed to mute the sound of the vent cover falling against the floor, wincing at the loud crash that sounded. 

As she glanced behind her, the guards were still unmoving. She sighed in relief. The seed had worked, they hadn’t heard anything.

She squeezed into the vents, not bothering to replace the cover behind her. By the time they noticed, the unit would already be gone, and the weapons destroyed.

Raelle’s section mostly went smoothly, until the end. 

She took out the five guards rather easily, moving towards the back wall. The room appeared to be an armory of sorts, the wall lined with automatic weapons, as well as scourges and staffs, no doubt enchanted with deadly effects. She placed the charge in the middle wall, arming it and turning to return to the bunker. 

However, as she turned, she didn’t expect another guard to land a hard punch to her face, sending her flying toward the floor, clutching her nose in pain. 

Before she could recover, the guard had grabbed her once again, his strong arms easily picking up her small frame and throwing her across the room, right into one of those giant metal barrels. The barrel didn’t tip, thankfully, but it wobbled dangerously and Raelle leaned against it slightly as she forced herself to stand.

The man barreled towards her, and she was barely able to dodge before he tackled her to the ground. She threw herself to the side, once again landing hard against the ground. She glanced up at the guard, a bolt of fear piercing through her as he looked back and forth from her towards the barrel, fixing her with a wicked smile. 

Before she could react, the man had grabbed the edge of the barrel, not hesitating before tipping it over. The lid fell off as if hit the ground, and a bright green liquid poured out, headed right for Raelle. 

She knew she was in trouble if the stuff touched her. She forced herself to roll to the side, barely dodging the liquid as it poured towards her. However, she had to resist releasing a scream of pain as her left arm passed directly through the liquid, the green stuff coating almost her entire lower arm. 

Tears pricked in her eyes as her arm began to burn. She could see blisters already forming on her skin, and she bit her tongue to avoid screaming with pain. 

She snarled at the man with tear-filled eyes, snarling at his smug expression. 

With no hesitation, Realle used her right arm, grabbing her scourge and whipping it towards the man as hard as she could. The tip struck his head  _ hard, _ and he bodily fell to the ground. Raelle couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive, and frankly, she didn’t care at this point. 

She looked down at her arm in horror as her skin blistered and turned an angry red. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and she found it hurt to move her left fingers. She shook her head, grunting as she fought through the pain. 

Holding her left arm close to her chest, she fled the room, trying her best to focus through the mind-numbing pain radiating through her arm. 

  
  


Scylla met her in the hallway, her eyes lit up in worry. “Rae!” she called when she saw the girl stumbling through the hallway on the way to the bunker. “What happened? I was in the vents when I felt your pain through the bond-” 

She stopped abruptly when she noticed Raelle’s clouded eyes and the way she was cradling her arm. Glancing down, her eyes widened as she saw the blistered and bleeding skin of her arm, and she struggled not to gag at the sight. 

“C’mon,” Raelle choked out, moving past her and running towards the bunker. 

Scylla hesitated for a moment before following her. She could still feel the immense pain coming through the bond, and she tried to control her feelings of nausea at seeing Raelle like this. 

They eventually reached the bunker where Abigail and Tally were waiting, Scylla closely following Raelle, who was basically dead on her feet at this point. 

“There you guys are-” Abigail said, turning towards them with an exasperated expression. 

Scylla held up her hand. “Abi, we have to go,” she said, her eyes wide. “Raelle, her arm-” 

Without warning, Raelle collapsed into her arms, groaning in pain. 

“Raelle!” both Abigail and Tally called, running over to their sister. 

“Help me!” Scylla yelled at them as she struggled to carry Raelle alone. “We need to get her to the truck, I can’t heal her here, there’s too many Spree.” 

The unit nodded, and together they carried Raelle the quarter mile through the forest to the truck. After what felt like hours, they finally reached the truck, and Scylla quickly laid Raelle down in the bed. 

“What is it?” Tally asked, breathing heavily as they recovered from their uphills trek. 

“Looks like some sort of acid burn,” Abigail answered as Scylla immediately gripped Raelle’s uninjured hand, already combining their powers. “Probably whatever was in the barrel.” 

Tally nodded as they watched the golden light appear once again as Scylla began to chant. However, as soon as she began, she faltered. 

Scylla choked a little as she looked down at Raelle, blinking a few times. 

“Scylla?” Abigail asked, alarmed. “What’s wrong?” 

Scylla looked back at them, her eyes wide with panic. “It’s not working.” 

“What?” Tally asked in shock as Abigail immediately joined them in the back of the truck. She fished around in her back for a moment before pulling out alcohol and bandages.

“It’s probably a component used in the acid,” Abigail said as she ripped open the package for the gauze. “The Spree used something in the acid that made it impossible for a fixer to heal the wound.” 

Scylla looked at her, dumbfounded. “But Raelle’s magic, her healing is different-” 

Abigail looked up at her, her eyes intense. “I don’t know, Scylla,” she said seriously. “I would think the same thing, but clearly it’s not working, and we need to help Raelle  _ now.”  _

Scylla nodded, her face becoming determined. 

“Ok, hold her down,” Abigail said as she prepared the alcohol. “This is going to hurt like a bitch.” 

Scylla could only wince as Abigail tipped the bottle. She cringed as Raelle let out a pained scream as soon as the liquid touched her arm, and she jerked violently. Scylla held her shoulders firmly against the floor, however, as Raelle writhed. She let out one more scream as Abigail finished, pouring the alcohol generously on her injured fingers. The ground seemed to vibrate as Raelle screamed, and the wind picked up. Scylla silently pleaded with Abigail to hurry before Raelle accidentally struck them all with a bolt of lightning.

Before Raelle could even recover, Abigail was roughly pressing gauze against the wound and wrapping bandages tightly around her arm. She groaned in pain, tears forming in her eyes as her arm was wrapped. 

Scylla held her uninjured hand, and Raelle squeezed her hand so hard, it hurt. Raelle’s knuckles were white as she grasped Scylla’s hand, but Scylla didn’t flinch or retract her hand. 

Finally, Abigail finished wrapping the bandages. While it was a shoddy job, Raelle’s burned fingers still exposed, it was the best they could do for now. 

“Alright, we’ve got to go.” Abigail said. “Scylla, make sure we don’t leave any tracks, and Tally, detonate the charges when we’re a safe distance away. “ 

The girls nodded, Tally running up towards the passenger seat while Abigail hopped out of the bed and began to drive the truck down the hill once again. 

Scylla focused on erasing their trail, humming a high-pitched seed as they drove. The seed was meant to conceal their tracks and make sure they couldn’t be followed. 

Even as she focused on her task, she struggled to not turn her full attention to Raelle, who lay in the corner of the bed, groaning in pain.

Scylla cringed at the sound, desperately wishing she could do more to help her girlfriend. When they got back to the house, she would have to try and find some sort of painkiller or something similar. 

More importantly, she had to figure out how to heal Raelle for real. Their bond had yet to fail them like this, and Scylla would be lying if she said it didn’t worry her. 

The Spree was cunning in their attacks, and this acid was a vicious move on their part. Scylla shuddered. The acid only hit Raelle’s arm, and she was barely functioning due to the pain. Scylla couldn’t even imagine what it would do if it hit a person head-on. 

Once Scylla was confident they couldn’t be followed, she turned her attention to Raelle. She didn’t even notice the loud explosion that sounded in the distance as Tally detonated the charges, too lost in Raelle’s clouded eyes. 

She gripped her hand, muttering words of love and encouragement into Raelle’s ear as they drove, and it seemed to help calm Raelle down. 

“Hey, do you remember Beltane?” Scylla asked, trying to keep her tone light, but she knew there was a hint of desperation creeping in. 

Raelle blinked a few times, as if she was struggling to focus. She turned towards Scylla, meeting her eyes and grimacing a little. “Yeah,” she choked out.

“That night was amazing, wasn’t it?” Scylla asked, smiling. 

A small smile made its way onto Raelle’s face despite the pain. “Yeah.” she agreed.

“You looked amazing,” Scylla continued. “That suit looked gorgeous on you. I swear, you were fucking  _ hot. _ ” 

Raelle chuckled a little but it quickly turned into a groan as she jostled her arm.

“And dancing with you was like...” Scylla continued, struggling to find the words. 

“Salva.” Raelle said with a strained voice, smiling a bit. 

Scylla gave her a tearful smile. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Dancing with you was like flying. Like that night when we used salva together. You were beautiful.” 

Raelle nodded. “You too.” she whispered. 

Scylla laughed as she recalled the night. “Anacostia was so pissed,” she said, smiling. “She thought I was a bad influence, you know? Can you believe that?” 

Raelle laughed a little. “You were.” she said, her eyes a bit less clouded as she spoke to Scylla. 

“How dare you, Collar!” Scylla said, looking down at her with a mock offended expression. “You improved in training when we started dating.” she pointed out. 

“Yeah,” Raelle said, groaning a bit. “Because we were having sex, like, every other night.” 

Scylla shrugged, giving Raelle a smile. “Yeah that could have been it.” 

Raelle nodded, and as the conversation faded, her eyes seemed to fill with pain once again. Scylla’s eyes widened as she scrambled for something to talk about to distract Raelle.

“You know, I’m still waiting for that walk on the beach,” she said quickly, squeezing Raelle’s hand to grab her attention. 

Raelle smiled. “Me too.” she said. 

“I’ll take you there one day,” Scylla told her. “Once this is all over. We can ask Anacostia for a day off, and all of us can have a beach day.” 

Raelle seemed less tense the more Scylla talked about the beach. 

“Abigail will act all high and mighty like she does, and pretend to be too cool to swim and build sand castles with us, but she’ll still totally do all of it. And even better, she’ll have the most fun out of all of us.” Scylla said, smiling at the thought. 

“Tally will be super excited about building sand castles. She’ll bring a bunch of supplies and everything and spend hours crafting the perfect castle. She’ll probably end up getting super sunburned, though, because she refused to put on any sunscreen, despite her being the palest person, like, ever.” Scylla said, rambling at this point. “Except you, of course.

Raelle snorted at that. She wasn’t wrong. 

“You would spend the whole day in the water, splashing around and riding the waves. You’d stick your hands in the sand underwater and try to find shells and stuff. I’d probably have to drag you out of the water at some point to force you to put on sunscreen, stupid.” 

Raelle took a deep breath, as if struggling to control her pain. “What about you?” she asked between breaths. 

Scylla glanced down at her for a second before she answered. “I’d spend some time tanning and just watching you guys enjoying yourselves.” she said thoughtfully. “I’d probably help Tally with her sandcastle a bit until she gets mad at me for messing something up. I’d play volleyball with Abigail, and get completely destroyed.” 

Raelle laughed, nodding.

“I’d swim with you, and I’d help you find the perfect seashell.” Scylla continued, her eyes shining. “We’d stay there all day, and then we’d all watch the sunset together.” 

She looked down at Raelle, and Raelle gazed back with clear eyes. “It’d be the perfect day.”

Raelle nodded, squeezing her hand. “I’m looking forward to it.” she said, stuttering a bit as she spoke.

She swallowed hard, jerking as a pain shot through her arm once again. 

Looking up, Scylla was relieved to see that they had finally reached Raelle’s neighborhood. “C’mon, Rae.” she said, reaching her hand out towards Raelle. “Let’s get you home.”

Raelle nodded, grimacing and withholding a yelp as she sat up, using Scylla’s hand as support as she stumbled out of the bed of the truck. 

They began the walk towards Raelle’s home, Raelle struggling to stay upright the entire way, even with Scylla and Tally on either side supporting her. 

They avoided the gazes of neighbors sitting on their porches, looking straight ahead and ignoring any calls they got. Raelle flinched a little when she heard a woman call her name, but she kept walking, not looking back. 

They finally reached the house, and Raelle released an audible sigh as they opened the door and she immediately collapsed on the couch. 

Scylla left her there and hurried to their bathroom, opening the cabinet and desperately rummaging for some sort of pain medication. Unfortunately, she found nothing but toothpaste and a bit of dental floss. 

_ Fuck.  _

Scylla sighed, running her hands through her hair and she left the bathroom and returned to the living room, where Abigail was in the process of changing the bandages on Raelle’s arm and doing a neater job this time. 

Scylla could only watch as Raelle flinched in pain as the bandage was unwrapped, revealing the buried and bloodied skin underneath. Scylla frowned, her eyes narrowing in concern. It certainly didn’t look good. 

As Abigail focused on rewrapping it, Tally grabbed Scylla’s arm and pulled her off the side. She fixed her with a serious look. “Scylla, you have to heal her.” she said. 

“I already told you, it’s not working-” Scylla began.

“Scylla.” Tally interrupted. “You know this is serious. Raelle might not be able to use that arm after this. There’s no way this won’t leave some permanent damage, and bandages aren’t going to fix it.” 

Scylla looked at her helplessly. “I know, Tal, but it just  _ didn’t work.”  _

Tally sighed, shutting her eyes in frustration. 

Scylla looked at the ground, guilt running through her. 

Suddenly, Tally grabbed her shoulder, her eyes wide. “What if we strengthen your bond again?” she asked, a bit of hope in her voice. 

Scylla furrowed her brows. “I don’t know-” 

“It’s worth a try, right?” Tally said, already pulling Scylla over towards the couch, where Abigail had just finished applying Raelle’s bandages. It looked as though Raelle had fallen into a restless sleep, still cradling her left arm close to her chest.

Scylla looked down at her in concern and her choice was made. 

“Abigail,” Tally addressed, pushing Scylla in between them, closer to Raelle. “Let’s do the strengthening spell again.” 

Abigail narrowed her eyes. “The strengthening spell?” she asked, confused. “Why would that--” 

“We’re gonna try and strengthen the bond again to see if that can help Scylla heal Raelle.” 

Abigail hesitated a moment, glancing over at Raelle before nodding. She kneeled in front of Scylla as Tally did the same, and they started to sing a soft seed. Once again, Tally sang the low part while Abigail sang a higher-pitched harmony. Scylla could feel the bond clearly once again as the spell took hold, and she blinked a few times at the familiarity of it all. 

Evidently, Raelle could feel it too, and her eyes shot open as soon as Tally and Abigail stopped singing. She looked over at Scylla, her eyes wide in alarm and confusion. 

Scylla gave her a calming look, and Raelle seemed to relax a little when Scylla sent a calm feeling over the bond. It was a familiar feeling, and yet it was still so weird. 

“I’m going to try and heal you again, okay, Raelle?” Scylla asked, grabbing Raelle’s hand. 

She swallowed and nodded. 

They squeezed each other’s hands, and in almost no time at all, their powers were combined. It was that much easier now that the bond was so potent between them. At once, Scylla could feel Raelle’s power flowing through her, only this time it felt even stronger. 

She only hoped it was strong enough to heal her girlfriend for real this time. 

She began the familiar chant, closing her eyes and she focused on Raelle’s wound. Their energies combined, and at once, Scylla knew this would work. She had never felt more powerful than she did right now, other than that day in Alder’s office. 

She finished the chant, only just then becoming aware of Raelle also muttering the chant under her breath along with her. 

Raelle took a deep breath as the golden light faded, and she blinked a few times. She looked up at Scylla, her eyes clear, and Scylla could have cried at how much love was communicated in her gaze alone. 

Hesitantly, Abigail reached forward and unwrapped the bandages, cautiously pulling them off Raelle’s arm, only to find unblemished skin underneath.

There was an audible sigh of relief as everyone realized it worked. Scylla jumped a little when she also felt Raelle’s relief through the bond. 

It had also been weird when they used it the first time too, she reminded herself. She just needed time to get used to it. 

It was tough to get to sleep that night, but Scylla found rest a bit easier when she could feel Raelle’s relief through the bond. They cuddled in Raelle’s bed once again while Abigail and Tally took the couch again. 

Scylla finally closed her eyes and began to sleep after a few restless hours. An arm wrapped around Raelle’s midsection, she sighed into the girl’s neck, sending her love through the bond. 

She could almost sense Raelle relaxing at the feeling, and Scylla let out a soft sigh before finally falling into a deep sleep. 

* * *

The redhead paced around the edges of the compound, her hands joined stiffly behind her back and a displeased expression painting her face. 

She glanced over at the wrecked compound, scowling at the ruined bunker and crumbling foundation. This attack had been unexpected, and she was frustrated that Petra hadn’t given her proper warning before taking out the supply compound.

As she paced around the perimeter. She found herself questioning the situation once again. Why would Petra strike out at such a compound without warning her beforehand? She frowned as she considered the situation. It was worrying that she hadn’t had the chance to contact Petra and address the situation personally. 

It was suspicious. 

Jessica sighed as she glanced once again at the ruined remains of her biggest compound. Clearly this had been a planned and well-thought out attack. The redhead scowled. This had the military written all over it, yet Jessica still couldn’t fathom  _ why. _

Trudging through the grass, she glared at a stray Spree agent as they ran up to her, a small object clutched in his grip. 

He seemed to hesitate at the displeased look on her face. He opened his mouth, then closed it, holding up the object. 

“Spit it out,” Jessica demanded, glaring at the man. 

“Right, of course, ma’am,” he stuttered. “We found this on the east side of the building, thrown into the grass.” 

He didn’t elaborate as he handed the object to Jessica, quickly leaving her to help clean up the wreckage with the other agents. 

Jessica squinted as she examined the small device on her palm. It seemed to be some sort of electrical device, based on the complicated circuitry embedded on the inside. It seemed as though the device had been fried, however. 

Giving the device a closer examination, Jessica noted that it appeared to be a stealth weapon of some sort, only designed to be used once and then disposed of. 

Jessica smiled as she began to realize what this meant. 

The use of devices such as this implied that it was a small stealth team that was responsible for the destruction of her facility. 

She only knew one stealth unit capable of such destruction. 

Grinning, she stood up, clutching the device in her palm. She clutched it and began to focus on the leftover traces of magic left on the device. 

Just as she thought. Collar’s unmistakable signature was all over the device. 

This just got interesting.

Smiling, the redhead returned to her vehicle parked near the edge of the facility. 

Taking out her cell phone, she dialed a familiar number. 

As Jessica stepped into her car, Petra answered the phone almost immediately. “Yes?” she said distractedly. “This is General Bellweather speaking.”

Jessica’s lips curled into a smile. “I have some new information.” she said.

There was a small rustle on the other end of the line as Petra heard this. “I told you to never call me during the day-” she began, her voice serious. 

“It’s about Collar and her unit.” The redhead interrupted, knowing it would catch Bellweather’s attention. 

There was further rustling, presumably the sound of Petra moving to a more secluded location. “What about them?” came Petra’s response. “Do you know their location?” 

Jessica smiled. “There was an attack on one of the Spree attacks.” she said. “We took significant damage to our weapon stockpile. And Collar’s unit is responsible.” 

Petra hesitated a moment before responding. “They must have received intel from inside Fort Salem. Probably Anacostia. I’ll have to deal with her.” she said, displeasure coating her voice. “Do you know the location of the unit now?” 

“The compound is on the outer regions of the Chippewa Cession,” she said simply, leaving Petra to fill in the blanks. 

“So, they’re at Collar’s old home.” Petra said. 

“I would think so.” Jessica replied. 

There was a moment of silence before Petra hummed. “I’ll send a strike team to your location, as well as the coordinates of Raelle’s home.” she said. 

“Affirmative.” Jessica said, nodding. 

“Jessica,” Petra said. “Bring the unit back to Fort Salem.  _ Alive.  _ Do not harm my daughter, do I make myself clear?” 

Jessica scowled, but nodded. “Got it.” she said. “I look forward to the arrival of the strike team. Within the next two days, the Bellweather unit will be back at Fort Salem.” 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raelle and the unit find themselves in an unfortunate situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading!! Please let me know you enjoyed the chapter by leaving me a comment or a kudos!! Thank you!

The unit took the time to have some much needed rest and relaxation after the stressful mission. 

Raelle and Scylla spend a lot of time together throughout the day, taking walks through the Cession while Raelle told some funny childhood stories. They passed her old high school and Raelle almost laughed at the thought of attending school now. 

Scylla held her hand the entire time, and Raelle couldn’t help but feel grateful for the return of their bond. While it could be a little weird and very personal, Raelle could admit that having Scylla always around her was...comforting. 

And it gave her faith that if Petra Bellweather did end up finding the knife, there was no way she could use it to control Raelle anymore.

Scylla seemed to feel the same, and Raelle could feel her relief at the strengthening of their bond once again. 

Raelle sighed as they walked, finally starting to feel relaxed after almost a week of pure stress and intensity. 

She was back home, with the girl she loved, and they had just taken down a massive Spree compound. 

Life was good.

Suspiciously good. Raelle was almost expecting something bad to happen at this point, since that would be just her luck. 

But she decided that she would be an optimist, just this once. 

And so she enjoyed her time with Scylla and her sisters. She took long, introspective walks with her girlfriend, she tried to help Tally practice her seer drills. Although, to be perfectly honest, she didn’t think Tally needed practice at all, the girl blew through every drill like it was nothing. 

She even spent some time with Abigail near the end of the day, having a long winded discussion about the logistics of deploying combat rats to fight their enemies. It was weird, but honestly refreshing to have such a silly exchange with Abigail of all people. 

That evening, she had a conversation with her Pa. He had apologized for his behavior. He explained his struggle with her being a part of the military, especially with all that had happened to her so far. He gave her a hug, sniffling a little. “You make me so proud, Rae.” he had said, and Raelle could feel a warm feeling blooming in her chest as he said those words.

Finally, the day came to an end, much to Raelle’s displeasure. She couldn’t help but feel like the unit’s time together was limited, despite their being no certain future ahead of them. She knew she was paranoid, she had been since her capture and the following events, but it didn’t stop her from feeling anxious as she slipped into bed with Scylla once again. 

For Raelle, it seemed that happiness was always temporary. Some new evil would soon rear its ugly head, and Raelle would have to go through some stupid shit yet again. 

It seemed as though Scylla could sense her ever-growing anxiety, and she reached over sleepily, wrapping her arms around Raelle’s midsection and giving her a tender hug. Raelle could feel her content through the bond and she resolved to stop being so paranoid all the time. Everything would work out alright in the end. 

And with that, she fell asleep, curled into Scylla’s arms with a small, content, smile on her face.

* * *

Around 3:00 am that night, everything went to shit. 

The strike team quietly entered the home, only slightly deterred by Raelle’s small defense runes. They were combated with the combined seeds of the six witches, and they used another rune to open the locked door.

Three of the witches crept towards the couch area, where Tally and Abigail slept. Without a sound, they jabbed a syringe into both witches’ necks, covering their mouths to keep them from alerting Raelle or Scylla as the drug took effect. 

Eventually, the two were unconscious, and the witches quietly hauled them out of the house and into the waiting van. 

The other three witches approached the other rooms in the house, quietly opening the door of the far room and then immediately retreating at finding Raelle’s father sleeping inside.

The witches quietly crept into the other room, pleased to find Raelle and Scylla sound asleep and cuddled so close together, they were a mess of limbs. 

A witch approached the side of the bed, quickly injecting the syringe into Raelle’s neck. Her eyes shot open at the feeling and she immediately turned to warn Scylla, only to be quickly dragged off the bed with a gloved hand covering her mouth. The drug was already taking effect, and her weak attempts to warn Scylla were useless. 

She could only watch with lidded eyes as Scylla was also injected and pulled off the bed, landing hard against the wooden floor. Their eyes met, and Raelle could only sense Scylla’s fear and panic through the bond before she promptly fell limp in the witch’s grip, groaning as her eyes closed. 

Scylla watched in horror as Raelle fell unconscious, slumping over. She could feel the drug starting to pull her under too, and she desperately looked up at her attackers, trying to find anything she could use or identify. 

She saw nothing except hooded witches dressed in black. Their faces were unfamiliar, and Scylla could feel her eyelids drooping. The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious was one of their attackers dragging Raelle out of the room, her feet dragging against the floor as she was pulled out the doorway.

* * *

Raelle woke to the sound of raspy breathing. 

Blinking a few times and trying to force her eyelids to stop being so heavy, a dark room came into focus.

In front of her, Anacostia was chained to a steel chair, and she was breathing heavily, as if she were in pain. 

Standing in front of Anacostia was someone Raelle had never hoped to see again. 

As Raelle took in a stuttering breath, both Anacostia and the redhead turned to look at her. Anacostia’s face remained unchanged, but Raelle could see the way her eyes became pained when she looked at her. 

The redhead gave her a wicked smile, and Raelle stiffened, struggling to remain calm and focused. She blinked a few times, trying her best to slow down her racing heart and not become panicked. 

As she began breathing heavily, she noticed that her hands were tightly chained behind her back around a pole that was situated in the corner of the room. Once again, a silencer was fixed around her neck.

She tested the bonds, wincing a little when she felt just how tight they were. 

“Hello, Raelle.” a sickly sweet voice interrupted her thoughts. “Nice to see you again.” 

Raelle didn’t look at her, her eyes trained to the ground as she tried desperately to calm her racing heart. Where was Scylla? Why didn’t she feel anything?

“I bet you’re wondering why you can’t feel your little girlfriend through that bond of yours.” the redhead commented, as if reading her thoughts. 

Raelle let loose a harsh breath, struggling slightly against the chains. She clenched her jaw and still refused to look at the woman. 

“We caught on to that little strengthening spell of yours.” the redhead continued. “I went ahead and got rid of that for you, so you don’t need to worry about Ramshorn clouding your mind any longer.” 

Raelle breathed heavier, grunting a little as she struggled more against the chains. She was starting to panic. 

“Although we do have that pesky soulmate bond of yours to worry about.” The redhead noted, as though she was just remembering it. “But as long as we keep you two separated, it shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” 

Raelle said nothing, the chains digging into her wrists because of how hard she was pulling against them. Her eyes were still trained solely on the ground, and she hadn’t looked up at the woman once. 

The redhead frowned at Raelle’s reaction. She walked closer to the girl, ignoring the rattle of chains that came from Anacostia as she struggled against her binding, her eyes wide with anger.

Raelle kept her eyes focused on the ground, even as the woman kneeled in front of her. Without warning, she was grabbing Raelle’s chin and forcing her to meet her gaze. Raelle thrashed in her grip, her eyes wide as she met the woman's cold gaze.

Wordlessly, the woman smiled at her, and at once, Raelle stiffened as the her hands drifted lower to pull up Raelle’s shirt. 

Raelle could swear that her heart was going to beat out of her chest at this point, and she whimpered slightly as the redhead ran a long finger down one of her scars.

The redhead let a smile cross her face as she noticed Raelle’s reaction. She let her finger hover there for a moment before standing, leaving Raelle to slump against the pole, breathing heavily.

“You’re going to help us, Collar,” the redhead said, returning to her position in front of Anacostia. The Sergeant snarled at her, her eyes wide with rage as she noticed Raelle still trying to calm down. The girl was trembling violently, and her breaths were short and harsh as she watched the redhead carefully. 

“Unfortunately, this Sergeant of yours is being rather... uncooperative in our interviews.” she said, glancing back at Raelle for a moment. “So we decided that your presence might prove a bit more helpful.” 

Anacostia growled, jerking against the chains as Raelle shook her head violently, muttering harshly to herself under her breath. 

The redhead glanced over at Raelle, who was having some sort of breakdown, and then back to Anacostia. “Collar looks like she’s struggling,” the redhead said to Anacostia. “You know you can end this if you just tell us where the knife is.” 

Raelle stiffened at the mention of the knife, and the redhead noticed. “Ah, so that caught your attention.” 

Raelle looked up at her, rage clear in her eyes and she jerked against the chains, screaming obscenities at the woman. The redhead simply watched Raelle screamed at her, a small smile spread across her face. 

“Alright,” she said over Raelle’s cries. “Let’s begin.” 

WIthout another word, the redhead placed her fingers on either side of Anacostia’s head, against her temples, and sang a soft seed. 

Anacostia immediately jerked in her chair, her face scrunched up in pain. She grunted, obviously trying to resist crying out in pain. Raelle threw herself towards the woman, the chains rattling loudly as she screamed at the redhead to stop. 

She didn’t let up, however, and Anacostia’s groans of pain quickly became screams as the pain intensified. 

“Stop!” Raelle screamed, tears forming in her eyes as she violently pulled at the chains. “Stop it!” 

After what felt like hours, the redhead finally removed her hands, and Anacostia slumped over in her chair, breathing heavy, labored, breaths. 

“You can stop this, Raelle.” the woman said, not even looking at Raelle as she watched Anacostia try and recover. “Just tell us where you hid the knife.” 

Raelle breathed heavily, her expression becoming pained as she realized her situation. She leaned back against the pole, squeezing her eyes shut. 

“Fine,” the redhead said at her lack of response. “Have it your way.” 

Raelle didn’t look as Anacostia’s raspy screams resumed, clenching her jaw and looking up at the ceiling. She was crying, at this point, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to control her breathing. 

After a few moments, Anacostia’s cries stopped, only to be replaced by vicious coughs as she slumped over in her chair once again. 

“Tell us where it is, Collar.” the redhead said, warning clear in her tone. 

Raelle closed her eyes, gritting her teeth before looking back at the woman. Before she could speak, Anacostia looked directly at her, breathing heavily. “Don’t you dare, Collar.” she said, her voice raspy and exhausted. “That’s an order.” 

Raelle closed her mouth, looking at Anacostia with a pained expression. 

The redhead frowned, looking back towards Anacostia, growling at the Sergeant. Anacostia simply looked back at her, looking cool and unaffected despite her situation. 

Raelle knew better. 

The redhead lifted her hands again, and Raelle curled in on herself as Anacostia began screaming again. The cries were louder this time, and Anacostia was clearly in more pain. Raelle couldn’t take it much longer.

Raelle closed her eyes, making her choice. 

“Stop!” she yelled over the screams. “Stop! I’ll tell you where it is.” 

At once, the screaming ceased, and Anacostia immediately looked towards her, anger written on her face. “Collar, don’t-” 

She was interrupted as the redhead punched her brutally in the face, earning a yell from Raelle as Anacostia’s head jolted back. 

“Where is it?” the redhead asked. 

Raelle opened her mouth, but found the words wouldn’t come out. She choked a bit, closing her eyes as tears poured down her face. 

“Tell me now, Raelle!” the redhead yelled, grabbing the collar of Anacostia’s shirt in a clear threat.

Raelle sighed before clenching her jaw and looking directly at the woman. “It’s buried under the big tree next to the infirmary. The one with the big canopy.” 

There was silence as the redhead smiled at her, releasing Anacostia and letting her slump back against her chair.

“Thank you for your assistance, Collar.” the redhead said before promptly turning and leaving the room, leaving Anacostia and Raelle alone.

The only sounds that filled the room were Raelle’s soft sobs as she curled within herself and planted her head between her knees. She struggled to control her breathing, eyes tightly shut as she thought about what she had just done. How she had just condemned herself. 

“Collar.” came Anacostia’s voice from in front of her. 

Raelle ignored her, still crying. She didn’t want to hear how what she had done was stupid and reckless and disobeying a direct order. She knew that.

“Collar, look at me,” the voice said again, this time more insistent. 

Raelle sighed, looking up at Anacostia with tear-filled eyes. “What?” Raelle asked incredulously. “What could you possibly say right now that will make this any better? I’m sorry I disobeyed a direct order, I’m sorry that I was stupid, I’m sorry we got caught, I’m sorry!”

Anacostia looked at her with soft eyes. “Thank you, Collar.” she said softly. 

Raelle looked at her in confusion. “What?” 

Anacostia sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, what you did was reckless and stupid,” she said. “But it was also brave and selfless. Thank you, Raelle. You’re a good soldier.” 

Raelle looked at her, her expression pained. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.” she said, her voice cracking. 

Anacostia shook her head. “Don’t be, Collar.” she said softly. “It won’t be you. We all know that.” 

Raelle sighed, resting her head back against her knees. 

All they could do now was wait. 

* * *

  
  


Scylla was exhausted. She was exhausted and angry and upset and worried. And Raelle could feel none of it. 

The strengthening spell that they had placed on the bond was gone, Scylla knew, and she was concerned with what that meant. 

She had been sitting in this cell for hours now, restlessly waiting for something to happen along with Abigail and Tally. At least they weren’t hurt or anything.

But she knew that Raelle was decidedly not okay. Even with their weakened emotional connection, Scylla had felt Raelle’s panic, fear, and anguish through the bond loud and clear. She knew that wherever Raelle was, she was not having a good time. She wished she could feel her emotions more clearly, at least so she had a better idea of what was going on, but she knew that the strengthening spell was the only way to do that. Their bond wasn't strong enough without it. 

She almost laughed. They were supposedly soulmates, and yet their bond wasn't strong enough by itself. Once again, Scylla found herself doubting this whole soulmate thing. Realle was too good for her anyway, there was no logic in them being destined partners. 

The anxiety rolled off of her in waves as she thought about Raelle, and it was starting to get to Tally and Abigail too. Tally had taken to pacing back and forth over the length of their cell, while Abigail quietly fidgeted with her hands. 

Scylla herself could only stare straight ahead, her body tensed as she thought of what could be happening to her girlfriend. She had a sinking feeling that it had to do with that fucking knife. 

They had been sitting for a couple hours before a guard finally approached their cell, motioning for Abigail to step forward.

The unit exchanged glances, looking at the guard with suspicion. Abigail didn’t move. 

The guard sighed, exasperation clear in his tone. “Your mother wants to talk to you.” he said, raising his eyebrows expectantly. 

Abigail tensed at the mention of her mother, and after a moment’s hesitation, she stood and walked towards the door. 

Abigail looked back at her unit, who gazed at her in concern. She gave them a firm nod, communicating that she would be fine, before she stepped out of the cell. 

The guard fixed a pair of cuffs around her wrists and didn’t touch the silencer that was wrapped around the girl's neck before they left the bunker.

Scylla couldn’t help but notice that the cell she was in this time was different from her last prison. While the other prison had seemed sleek and modern, this dungeon seemed to resemble, well, a dungeon.

The walls were made of stone, rocky and unpolished. It was dark and dank, and Scylla shivered at the chill in the air. 

She looked back at Tally as Abigail finally disappeared from view, and Tally met her eyes with a pained expression. “What do you think she wants to talk to her for?” Tally asked quietly, her voice a little raspy from disuse.

Scylla sighed before gazing out of the cell, focusing on the point where Abigail had disappeared. “I don't know, Tal.” she said. “Probably some mother-daughter stuff.” 

She snorted humorlessly. 

Tally didn’t smile. 

It wasn’t funny. 

Silence consumed the cell as both girls lost themselves in their thoughts. 

Then, there was a scraping sound from the other side of the prison. From the cell across from theirs. 

Scylla jerked her head up, narrowed eyes peering into the dimly-lit cell. 

Just barely, she could see a small figure sitting up from where they were laying. 

“Hello?” Tally called hesitantly. “Who is that?” 

There was only silence as the figure slowly stood, walking closer to the bars. 

“Who else would it be?” answered a familiar voice, and Scylla felt a chill go down her spine. 

As the figure approached the bars, the lights of the hallway illuminated Sarah Alder’s face. 

Tally gasped quietly and Scylla’s eyes widened. “Why are you here?” Scylla demanded. “I thought the witch council was finally going to put you on trial.” 

Alder sighed, giving them a rueful smile. “They were,” she said. “But Petra Bellweather ordered me back here. I don’t know why.”

Tally swallowed. “How long have you been here?” she asked. 

Alder raised an eyebrow. “I’m not completely sure.” she answered. “At least a week? It’s hard to say.” 

There was a moment of silence. “I’m curious as to why you girls are here,” she said, quirking her head. “And why isn’t Collar with you?”

Scylla’s eyes narrowed in rage. “You don’t get to say her name.” she spat. 

Alder looked at her flatly. “What are you going to do to stop me, Ramshorn?” she said. “We’re in two separate cells, in case you haven’t noticed.” 

Scylla clenched her jaw, not responding.

“Petra is actually the founder of the Spree.” Tally answered instead. 

Alder raised her eyebrows. “Really?” she said. “That’s interesting.” 

Scylla whipped her head towards her. “No, that’s not  _ interesting, _ ” she said, growling at the woman. “It’s horrible.” 

Alder nodded. “It definitely causes some problems.” she admitted. “So I’m guessing Petra is looking for the knife again? That’s why Collar isn’t here?” 

Scylla grit her teeth, remaining silent. 

“Most likely,” Tally answered reluctantly.

“And based on Ramshorn’s attitude right now,” Alder said, fixing Scylla with a flat look. “Your little bond isn't working like it's supposed to?”

Scylla didn’t respond, which was answer enough for Alder. “Very well,” Alder said, clasping her hands together. “We have to get out of here.” 

Scylla released a humorless laugh. “We?” she asked incredulously. “If you  _ ever  _ think you’re leaving this cell after what you did-” 

“Oh, you’re going to need my help, make no mistake,” Alder said, unfazed by Scylla’s anger. 

“Why would we ever need  _ your  _ help?” Tally asked, practically growling at the woman. 

Alder gave them a wild smile. “Because you need my help if you’re taking on Petra Bellweather.”

The girls looked at her, narrowing their eyes. 

“Bullshit.” said Scylla finally. “We beat you easy enough.”

“Do you not remember when I stabbed that girlfriend of yours in the back?” she said, sneering. “And that was when you caught me by surprise.” 

Scylla snarled at the woman. “And do you not remember when I nearly killed you, bitch?” 

Alder met her glare with one of her own. “Believe what you want, but I can help you.” 

Tally and Scylla remained silent. 

“Where are your Biddies?” Tally asked suddenly. 

Alder seemed to hesitate. Then she sighed and gestured to the cell next to theirs. “They’re being kept here as well.”

Scyllar smirked. “Bet they're not doing great in these conditions,” she said. 

Alder swallowed and fixed her with a glare. “No.” she agreed begrudgingly. 

“So that’s why you really want out,” Tally said, narrowing her eyes. “You need a new Biddy, or some way to heal your current Biddies.”

Alder said nothing, which Tally and Scylla took as an answer. “You deserve to  _ rot _ in here,” Scylla spat. “There’s no way we’re ever letting you out.”

“We’ll see about that.” Alder said, moving back into the shadows of her cell without another word.

* * *

“Abigail,” Petra Bellweather breathed, moving towards her daughter, arms spread to give her a hug. 

Abigail wrinkled her nose and stepped back, dodging her hug. As Petra faltered and straightened, Abigail gave her a betrayed look. 

“All those people, mom,” she said, her voice full of emotion. “All those civilians.” 

Petra’s smile dropped and she sent out the guard without another word. 

Abigail snorted humorlessly. “What?” she asked. “You don’t want your soldiers to know you’re a mass murderer?” 

“Abigail,” Petra said flatly. “I’m not a mass murderer. I didn’t kill those people-” 

“But you created the Spree!” Abigail yelled, stepping towards her mom. “You created a terrorist organization!” 

Petra’s face didn’t change. “I did it for us,” she said. “I did it so that we would have the respect-” 

“No!” Abigail interrupted. “You did this for you, don’t pretend you didn’t!” 

Petra swallowed and glared at her daughter. 

“If you did this for us,” Abigail continued, her voice cracking slightly as she yelled. “Why am I standing here in fucking handcuffs with a silencer around my neck? Your own daughter?” 

Petra stiffened. “I was hoping that it wouldn’t be necessary,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “That you would see things clearly once you were away from those other girls.” 

Abigail scoffed. “‘Those other girls?’” she asked incredulously. “They’re my sisters, and they are the only one around here who  _ do  _ see clearly.” 

Petra scowled. “I see.” she said. “You would betray the Bellweather clan for that trailer park trash?” 

Abigail’s eyes widened with rage. “They’re not trash, they’re my family!” she screamed. “They’ve been more like family to me than you have  _ ever  _ been. The only person who’s betrayed the Bellweather clan here is  _ you.  _ You killed innocent people because you wanted power!” 

Petra said nothing, but she called out to the hallway. “Guard,” she called, not looking away from Abigail. Her face remained stone-cold, while Abigail’s was full of emotion and hatred. “Take the girl back to her cell.” 

Abigail screamed at her in rage as the guard dragged her out of the room. “You’re a monster!” she cried, jostling against the guard. “A monster!” 

Finally, her screams died out as the door to Petra’s office closed. 

Petra slumped over, taking a deep breath as she leaned against her desk. For a moment, tears began to well up in her eyes before she forced them down. 

She swallowed, and straightened. 

She had a job to do, and no one was going to stop her. 

She grabbed the scry from her desk, looking into the reflection and calling out to Jessica. The woman answered fast, her red hair appearing on the face of the scry. 

“Have you located the knife, yet?” Petra asked, a scowl on her face. 

Jessica simply smiled, moving the scry to show the five witches digging around the large tree near the infirmary. “Just as you thought,” Jessica said, turning the scry back toward her. “She cracked easily.”

Petra nodded, smiling in satisfaction. “She cares too much for her companions.” she said. “Bring Collar to me when you find the knife.” 

Jsssica nodded. “And then I may pay a visit to Alder?” her eyes twinkled in anticipation. 

Petra nodded. “Yes, a promise is a promise.” she said. “You’ll soon get your revenge, Jessica. Bring Collar to me first.” 

Jessica nodded before fading from the face of the scry, presumably going to help find the knife with the other witches. 

As Petra set down the scry, she released a strained sigh. She needed to put the encounter with Abigail behind her. Collar would soon be hers, and with the girl’s power, no one would be able to stand against her.

She would decide what to do with her daughter’s unit later. 

That Scylla would no doubt be a problem, especially with all that soulmate shit.

She would cross that bridge when she came to it, she decided. All that mattered now was getting Collar.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unit tries to rescue Raelle, and Scylla realizes something important about the soulmate bond

Abigail scowled as she was escorted back towards the prison. It seemed as though the unit was being housed in a secluded bunker under Fort Salem. 

She was starting to think that there were too many secret bunkers in this place. 

She subtly shifted her hands in her cuffs, testing for any give. She was pleased to find there was about enough slack for her to twist her hands a little within the cuffs. 

Smirking, she glanced over at the guard. That was all she needed. 

She waited until they were in front of the entrance to the bunker before she stopped in place, startling the guard. 

“Hey,” the guard said sternly. “Get going, Bellweather.” 

Abigail smirked before launching into action. Before the guard could react, she had turned around in a sudden kick, slamming her foot into the guard’s stomach. 

She launched herself towards him, propelling herself into the man’s chest, causing him to fall to the ground. 

As he gasped for air and reached in his pocket for a scry, Abigail quickly kicked the glass out of his hand before stomping on his hand. The man let out a pained yelp, reaching up and clutching his fingers in pain. 

As he was distracted, Abigail wasted no time before launching her foot into his face, knocking the man unconscious. 

She whipped her head, looking to see if anyone was watching before dragging the man’s prone form behind a nearby building. She grabbed his keys, unlocking her cuffs and sprinting towards the prison. 

As she ran into the bunker, trying her best to remember the way to her cell, she scrambled for the right key to unlock the silencer. 

She finally found the correct key right as she reached the prison. She ran up to the door, filing through the keys once again as she threw the silencer to the side. 

Tally and Scylla looked up at her in shock, immediately standing and joining her at the door. “Abi, what happened?” Tally asked, wrapping her hands around the bars as Abigail searched desperately for the right key, trying at least five different keys before finding the right one. 

She opened the door, immediately going to unlock her unit’s silencers. “Mommy dearest only had one guard escort me.” she explained with a cocky smirk. 

“Stupid move,” Scylla snorted, throwing her silencer to the stone floor as it was finally unlocked. She rubbed her neck, reveling in the feeling of being free before turning to her unit. 

“Well, we’re lucky she underestimated you.” Tally commented, rubbing her neck as well as her silencer was unlocked. 

“That’s my mom for you,” Abigail said, pocketing the keys and starting towards the door. “C’mon, we have to find Raelle.”

The girls nodded, moving to follow her before a voice interrupted them. 

“You can’t save her.” Sarah Alder called from the dark of her cell. 

“Is that…?” Abigail asked, turning to face the cell. 

Tally nodded solemnly, narrowing her eyes at the woman as she came into the light once more. This time, Tally and Scylla could see her biddies approaching the bars of their cell as Alder did. They looked worse for wear, as if they would collapse at any moment. Yet, they still gazed at Alder with the same utter devotion and commitment, and Scylla had to swallow her discomfort. 

“What do you mean we can’t save her?” Scylla spat. 

“I mean,” Alder growled, looking at them through the bars. “That there’s no way to release your little girlfriend from the rune forever. Even if you do say the words of release, the knife will always be there, and so will the rune.” 

Scylla closed her mouth, scowling at the woman. 

“You know I’m right, Ramshorn.” Alder said with a smug smirk. “As long as the knife still exists, someone can still use it.” 

Abigail stepped forward. “There’s nothing we can do about that.” she said surely. “If we destroy the knife, Raelle dies, and that’s not an option. Don’t you think we did our research after the shit you pulled?” 

Alder scoffed. “I would expect nothing less from a Bellweather,” she said. 

Abigail sneered at her, turning to her unit. “C’mon, let’s go, guys,” she said, starting towards the door once again. 

“I know how to release her permanently.” Alder called. 

The unit stiffened. Scylla turned, eyes narrowed. “Bullshit.” she replied. 

“Not at all.” Alder said. “I know more about this rune than you girls do. I know how to completely null its control over Collar. Forever.” 

The unit exchanged glances. “This is a bad idea.” Tally said finally. “She’s probably lying, we need to go find Raelle-” 

“I assure you, Craven,” Alder interrupted. “That I am telling the truth. If you release me, I’ll release Collar for good.” 

There was a moment of silence before Scylla snarled. “You are  _ never  _ leaving this cell as long as you live.” she spat, turning around and walking to the door.

Her sisters didn’t spare Alder a glance as they followed Scylla out. They could hear Alder’s desperate calls as they left the room, and Scylla resisted the urge to smirk at how pathetic she sounded. 

“Okay, where is Raelle?” Abigail said, peering down either side of the hallway as she spoke. She turned to Scylla expectantly. 

“What?” Scylla asked. 

“You and her have that soulmate thingie going.” Abigail said, as if it was obvious. “Where is she?” 

Scylla gave her an incredulous look. “That’s not how it works-” 

“Why not?” 

Scylla opened her mouth to respond before Tally raised her hand for them to quiet down. They looked over at their sister, recognizing the unfocused look in her eyes. Without a word, Tally pointed to the right. “Someone is in the cell down there.” she said, already walking over. “They feel familiar.” 

Scylla and Abigail didn’t hesitate before following her down the hallway, watching closely as Tally came to a secluded section of the bunker. On the far wall, there was a simple metal door, and Tally pointed right at it. 

Scylla wasted no time before running towards the door and bursting into the room, ignoring Abigail’s yells behind her. She could think only of finding Raelle.

As the door slammed open, she was faced with a small, dark room. There was a chair set in the middle of the room, and Scylla blanched at the site of Anacostia chained to the chair, her head tilted upwards. Her breaths were labored, as if she were in pain, and Scylla’s face became concerned as she noticed the blood covering the Sergeant’s face. 

Tally and Abigail burst into the room after her, pushing around her frozen form and running towards Anacostia, shaking her a little to wake her.

“Craven?” she said, blinking as she woke. Abigail was desperately searching for the key to her chains on the keychain she stole from the guard. 

After a couple tries, the chains were finally released and Anacostia immediately slumped forward. Tally had to rush forward to catch her as she began to fall from the chair. 

She landed on her knees, the fall softened by Tally’s hands bracing against her shoulders. She looked up at them, taking a deep breath. “Why are you here?” she asked, her voice slightly raspy. She cleared it, coughing as she did so. 

Abigail and Tally began to explain, but it faded into the background as Scylla gazed at the pole in the corner of the room. There were loose chains wrapped around its base, and Scylla blinked as she approached, 

She leaned down, lifting the chains with shaking hands. There were red stains coating parts of the metal surface, and Scylla knew in her soul that it was Raelle’s blood. Raelle had been there, and based on how fresh those stains were, she hadn’t been gone long. 

Scylla closed her eyes, throwing the chains to the floor in frustration. 

The unit looked over at her, startled by the sudden sound. Anancostia met her gaze with an apologetic look. 

“She was here, wasn’t she?” Scylla asked, gesturing to the chains sprawled across the floor. 

Abigail and Tally looked up at Anacostia as well, waiting for her response. The Sergeant simply nodded solemnly. 

“The knife.” Anacostia said, forcing herself to stand. “Petra has it. She has Raelle.” 

At once, Scylla could feel her heart shatter. That was why she couldn’t feel Raelle at all on the other end of the bond. Even without the strengthening spell, Scylla could normally at least feel Raelle’s presence at the other end. Right now, she felt nothing. The only other time she felt that was when the knife was in use. When Raelle wasn’t herself.

“We need to find her,” Tally immediately responded. “Scylla can get her out-” 

“We don’t know for sure if I’ll be able to, Tal,” Scylla said solemnly. “Just because it worked last time doesn’t mean it will work this time. We don’t have the same bond, the spell’s broken-” 

“Bullshit,” came Anacostia’s voice from next to Tally.

Scylla whipped her head up at the woman. “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me, Ramshorn.” Anacostia said, moving towards her. “You two are soulmates. You don’t need a strengthening spell to make your bond real.” 

“But-” Scylla began. 

“ _ No,  _ Ramshorn.” Anacostia said, stepping closer. “The redhead said it herself. She said they needed to keep you two apart, so there was  _ no _ chance Raelle could be released. You know you can do it. You two are soulmates, and yet you keep denying it.” 

Scylla swallowed. 

Abigail stepped forward, noticing her hesitation. “She’s right.” Abigail said, resting a hand on Scylla’s shoulder. “You didn’t need that strengthening spell to heal Raelle.” 

“But, I did-” 

“No, you didn’t.” Tally said, stepping next to Abigail. “You keep thinking you’re not enough, Scylla. You think you're not worthy of being Raelle’s soulmate. But you  _ are.  _ Raelle loves you, and you love her.” 

Scylla couldn’t form words as Anacostia leaned forward. “Do you really think that a simple strengthening spell would be enough to keep an all-powerful rune from controlling Raelle?” she said, giving Scylla a meaningful look. “You’ve been denying your true bond this whole time, Scylla. Soulmates throughout history have always had an unbreakable bond, and you and Raelle are no exception. The only thing that’s stopping the bond from fully forming is your resistance. Your fear.” 

Scylla blinked in realization. She had thought it was only the strengthening spell that had connected their emotions. But it wasn’t the strengthening spell. It was the soulmate bond the whole time. She had been so uncertain about them being soulmates, it had prevented the bond from fully taking hold. She was unintentionally keeping their emotional connection from being at its complete strength.

And now Raelle couldn’t feel anything. 

Scylla looked up at all of them with wide eyes. “We have to find her.” she said. “I can’t let her stay like that.” 

The unit nodded, turning and sprinting towards the exit. 

Scylla took a deep breath, preparing herself. It was time to truly open herself up to this bond. It was the only way she could save Raelle.

* * *

Raelle was back in hell, no surprises there.

She was powerless to stop it as the redhead ordered her to follow her to Petra’s office. And there it was. The voice. That  _ fucking  _ voice. 

The voice that had haunted her nightmares for months. 

She could feel it overtaking her mind, clouding her thoughts. She was losing clarity quickly, she knew. She could barely feel what she was doing at this point. She was starting to forget her own name.

_ Scylla, _ she thought desperately, clinging onto the only thing she could. As her thoughts were consumed by a singular voice, she could still feel Scylla in the back of her head. 

_ Scylla, Scylla, Scylla,  _ she repeated over and over. She clung to the only clear thought in her head as she finally succumbed to the voice completely.

But, soon enough, even Scylla had faded from her head, replaced only with splitting pain and a grating voice. 

* * *

The unit sprinted through the prison, weaving through the twisting hallways and past gloomy metal doors, eventually reaching the exit.

Anacostia lagged behind a little, still weak from her torture under the redhead. She didn’t complain at all, though, doing her best to keep up with the unit. She eventually caught up completely at the exit, and she took Scylla’s hand as she helped her out of the bunker doors.

As she squinted at the bright light, she glanced around, only to find that they were faced with at least ten Fort Salem guards. 

“Well,” Abigail said. “This is unfortunate.” 

Without another word, the unit and Anacostia leapt into action. 

Scylla immediately dove under the scourge strikes of the soldiers to the right, sliding towards the soldiers’ legs. She twisted, sweeping the soldiers' legs out from under her, knocking her to the ground. She kicked one in the face, knocking him out, before she was tackled by another. 

Suddenly, a scourge struck out at the guard who had tackled her, wrapping around his throat and pulling him off of her. He fell against the ground, and Scylla immediately threw herself forward, launching her fist into his face. 

She looked up from his prone form, noticing Abigail giving her a nod before turning to strike out yet again with her stolen scourge. 

Scylla scrambled off the ground as she noticed another guard running towards her. She dodged the woman’s fist, grabbing her wrist as it passed by her face. She twisted it around her body, throwing the guard to the ground, the woman releasing a pain groan as she hit the cement. Scylla barely dodged another strike, throwing herself to the right to avoid a vicious kick to the stomach. She twisted around the attacker’s leg, slamming her fist into the man’s face and knocking him to the ground.

To her left, she noticed Anacostia struggling with two guards as Tally and Abigail were caught up in their own battles. Scylla sprinted over to the Sergeant, blocking a punch with her forearm, wincing as the punch landed on her arm. She didn’t spare Anacostia a look as she quickly took the guard down, slamming the woman’s head into her knee. She fell limply to the ground, and Scylla turned to see that Anacostia’s opponent was similarly grounded.

They looked around, finding that both Abigail and Tally were finished, the prone bodies of the guards scattered around the entrance.

Without another word, they started towards the building, following the familiar path to Alder’s--now Petra’s--office.

Scylla tried to focus on their task at hand, but she struggled to think of anything other than the bond at this point. She could feel where she had been unconsciously blocking it, now. She felt unworthy, so she hadn't been allowing the bond to fully take hold. Scylla couldn't help but feel a bit foolish.

It was her fault Raelle was under the knife’s control now. She had relied so heavily on a stupid strengthening spell that when it was gone, she had completely lost faith in their bond all together. 

Not this time, she told herself. She had promised that she would never let this happen to Raelle again, and she was going to keep that promise to the best of her ability. She loved Raelle, and she knew Raelle loved her. 

She just had to accept that and open herself up to the bond completely. 

Before she could fully focus, they were already faced with the wooden door to Petra’s office. Scylla felt a sinking feeling her stomach as everyone paused.

They were all worried about what they would find in there. Scylla especially. They didn’t know what they were walking into. 

Regardless, they were determined to save their friend. 

Anacostia grasped the handle of the door, looking back towards the unit and waiting for their okay before bursting into the room. 

They were faced with a familiar scenario. Raelle, complete with glowing green eyes, standing motionless to the right of Petra’s desk. Petra herself was sitting behind the desk and filling out a couple reports. 

As soon as the door slammed open, Petra stood and narrowed her eyes at the unit. Her gaze fixated on Abigail, giving her a disappointed look. “This is an unpleasant surprise.” she said, releasing a breath. “Guards?” 

She nonchalantly gestured to both corners, where numerous guards were lined against the back walls. The unit showed no reaction, but Scylla could feel the tension as they looked at the soldiers. 

“Go ahead and neutralize Ramshorn.” Petra said, casually straightening her papers and not looking at the group. “We don’t need anyone distracting our new recruit.”

She gestured to the motionless Raelle, a wicked twinkle in her eyes. 

Scylla bared her teeth as the guards rushed towards her. They pointedly ignored the other unit members as they tried to step in front of her. 

The guards pushed her unit aside as best they could as they approached Scylla. Scylla took a deep breath before screeching at the oncoming wave of guards, throwing them back. She quickly twisted, facing the other guards who were starting towards her. She kicked one in the stomach as he ran towards her, barely dodging a stray punch from another. 

She breathed heavily as she weaved through her enemies, doing her best to avoid any serious strikes. If she let her guard down for even a moment, she was done for.

As she fought, she was distantly aware of the rest of the unit attacking some of the guards as they tried to approach Scylla. She was thankful. The seemingly endless amount of opponents she was facing now was already overwhelming. 

She landed a brutal punch to a guard’s jaw, dropping him to the ground before twisting to dodge another’s kick aimed at her stomach. 

“Scylla!” Abigail’s voice called. Scylla glanced over, narrowly dodging another strike from a guard barreling towards her. Abigail wasted no time, throwing her stolen scourge over to Scylla and turning back to deal with her own opponent. 

Scylla grinned as she caught the scourge, immediately swinging it in a wide circle, knocking back her coming attackers. 

It was a full battle taking place in the large office, and while it had mostly stayed away from Petra and Raelle, thanks to her numerous guards, the General was becoming concerned. She knew that Ramshorn could be taken down if she used enough guards to neutralize her. The issue came in when her unit was taking on enough guards that Scylla was able to handle herself with the leftover. 

That just wouldn’t do. 

She grasped the handle of the knife, a small smile crossing her lips as she brought the blade up to her mouth. “Take care of Anacostia, Abigail, and Craven.” 

Raelle launched into action, and Petra was pleased at the girl’s complete lack of hesitation. She jumped in the middle of the battle, immediately throwing Abigail against the back wall with a windstrike. She grabbed her scourge and engaged in combat with Tally and Anacostia. They were struggling, unable to keep up with the accuracy and precision with which Raelle swung her scourge. There was not a hint of the Raelle they knew, her strikes cold and purposeful. 

Scylla began to falter as at least five guards joined the battle against her. Her expression became pained as she noticed Raelle battling her unit, her face emotionless and her attacks aggressive.

Scylla stumbled as one of the guards got close enough to land a strike against her shoulder. As soon as she faltered, four other guards immediately launched towards her, grabbing at her arms and torso. 

She let out a yell, pushing them back with a high-pitched seed. They were thrown off of her, but Scylla was quickly becoming weary. She barely had time to take a breath before more guards were throwing themselves at her. 

She weakly raised her scourge again, thinking only of Raelle. 

Scylla let out a short battle-cry as she swung her scourge towards her opponents, striking them hard in the chest.

Abigail groaned as she sat up, leaning heavily against the wall. She should've known that her mom would use Raelle against them eventually, especially if she saw that they had a chance of winning.

She forced herself to stand, launching herself at Raelle, who was standing above a fallen Tally and preparing to land a blow to her face. Abigail wrapped her arms around Raelle’s midsection, screaming as she tackled the girl to the ground and landed a brutal punch to her jaw. 

Raelle’s head jerked back, but her expression didn’t change as Abigail punched her again. Without warning, she opened her mouth, letting out a piercing screech that left Abigail clutching her ears in pain. She stumbled off of Raelle and was unprepared for the boot that came flying towards her face. 

Abigail was thrown back against the floor, groaning with pain. 

Raelle ignored her, continuing forward to deal with Tally. 

Tally forced herself to stand, right as Raelle swung her scourge exactly where the girl had been laying. She glanced over at Raelle, gritting her teeth as she noticed the girl’s impassive expression as she moved towards her. Tally dodged a right hook as Raelle approached, and she twisted around and launched her own fist towards Raelle’s face.

The jab landed, and Raelle flinched back. Tally didn’t let up, landing a few more punches to the girl’s face, ignoring the pain in her knuckles. Raelle dodged the next few, crouching down and sweeping Tally’s legs out from under her. 

Before Raelle could land another blow, a scourge was suddenly wrapped around her throat. Raelle grasped at the loops surrounding her neck. Looking back, she found Anacostia at the end of the scourge, giving her a hard stare. 

There was a moment of silence as they both stared at each other. Just as Raelle was about to run at the woman, Anacostia jerked the scourge, abruptly slamming Raelle against the wall. 

Anancostia released the scourge, running towards Raelle, prepared to land a finishing blow. Before she could, however, Raelle hummed a seed under her breath and blasted a bolt of lightning towards the Sergeant. 

Anacostia groaned, her muscles seizing as the electricity ran through her. She fell to the ground, twitching. Raelle pulled herself up, her face unchanging as she approached Tally. 

Tally stood, settling into a fighting position and giving her a look, her jaw clenched. As Raelle approached, Tally suddenly lunged out, tackling Raelle to the floor. 

They both landed hard against the ground, but Tally kept her grip, pinning Raelle to the floor with a few solid punches. Blood was pouring from Raelle’s nose, yet her face was still emotionless as she fought. 

As Tally was about to land another blow, Raelle screeched and Tally was thrown off of her. 

Raelle stood, singing a high pitched seed that sounded clearly through the room. In an instant, Tally’s face had scrunched up in pain and then she collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious. 

Abigail yelled out for Tally, but Raelle quickly silenced it, wrapping a hand around Abigail’s throat as she stood. Abigail looked at her for a second with wide eyes before she abruptly fell unconscious, falling victim to Raelle’s inaudible seed. 

Raelle was left standing, surrounded by the prone bodies of her unit as Scylla was slowly overtaken by the guards. Scylla’s yells and grunts could still be heard as she fought viciously, but there were simply too many guards for her to take alone. 

Raelle simply continued in her task, dragging her unit partners and the Sergeant over to Petra before resuming her place standing beside the woman. 

Blood was still pouring profusely from her nose, and a large bruise was rapidly forming on her cheek. Her face was covered with small scratches, yet her face remained impassive as she stared straight ahead, oblivious to the struggle happening on the other end of the office. 

Scylla released a wild scream as the guards finally overtook her, grabbing at her arms and landing blows against her face and side. 

She was powerless to resist as the guards dragged her towards Petra, struggling viciously in their grip. She was pleased to note the numerous fallen guards sprawled across the ground, but her pleasure quickly faded as she noticed Raelle’s motionless form and the unconscious bodies of the unit. 

Scylla stopped struggling as she was brought face-to-face with Petra. 

The woman smiled wickedly. “You put up quite a fight, Ramshorn, I must say.” she said, raising an eyebrow. Scylla bared her teeth at the woman, spitting a wad of blood from her mouth.

Petra wrinkled her nose in distaste. “But, alas, even you can’t take on an entire force of guards.” 

Scylla said nothing, glancing over at Realle, who didn’t spare her a look. She couldn’t help the way her stomach dropped at the familiar dead look present in Raelle’s glowing green eyes. 

“Oh, don’t worry, my dear,” Petra said, noticing her looking at Raelle. “She’s in very good hands, I assure you.” 

Scylla snarled at the woman, struggling viciously in the guards’ steel grips. 

“Guards,” Petra addressed, looking past Scylla, as if she wasn’t there. “Please take the unit to the prison. Put them in separate cells and make sure they can’t get out this time.” 

The guards nodded, moving towards the unit. 

“Oh, take my daughter to my quarters, please.” she said, as if it was an afterthought. “Make sure she’s properly restrained. I don’t want her escaping again.” 

Scylla could only watch as her sisters and the Sergeant were dragged out of the room. 

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Raelle,” she called, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “Raelle, please. Don’t do this, I know you can hear me.” 

It may have been her imagination, but Scylla could’ve sworn she saw Raelle’s eyes flicker with recognition. 

Petra frowned. “Take her to the prison as well.” she said, waving her hand dismissively. 

Scylla screamed in anger as she was dragged towards the door. “Raelle!” she screamed at her girlfriend. “Please, Raelle!” 

Scylla tried to focus on their bond. She tried to imagine the way it felt when they shared their emotions, when they were connected by the soulmate bond. She reached out, closing her eyes as she felt for Raelle’s end of the bond. 

She was desperate to find  _ anything. Anything _ that vaguely resembled her girlfriend, rather than just this shell. 

Just as she was leaving the doorway of the office, still violently struggling in the guard’s grip and desperately calling upon her bond with Raelle, she felt something. 

Just a small hint. But she could feel  _ Raelle  _ at the end of the bond and she grabbed at it, holding tight. 

She took a deep breath. Opening herself fully to the soulmate bond and everything it meant, she  _ pulled. _

She pulled at that small fragment of the girl she loved, and she could feel the bond taking hold. 

She didn’t need a stupid strengthening spell to be connected with Raelle. Scylla finally stopped resisting. 

All at once, Raelle was the only thing she could feel. Distantly, she was aware of screams sounding throughout the office, the guard’s hands no longer roughly gripping her biceps. 

She closed her eyes tightly, falling to the ground and basking in the feeling of Raelle surrounding her. It was exactly as it had been before, and yet it was so much  _ more.  _ Their bond was natural, and full, and it was  _ real.  _

Scylla and Raelle were connected for real now, and Scylla reveled in the feeling. 

She could feel Raelle’s rage as her girlfriend exploded, her grief, her love, her exhaustion, her guilt. 

Scylla could feel it all, and, taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you enjoyed the chapter with a kudos or a comment!!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ending.

Scylla found Raelle kneeled in front of her, her eyes glowing a bright, beautiful blue. Scylla could do nothing but launch herself at Raelle, wrapping her arms tightly around the girl and squeezing her as if she could disappear at any moment. 

Raelle hugged her back just as tightly, her body shaking with silent sobs. 

When they finally separated, Scylla noticed that she was crying. Looking up, she saw that Raelle was as well. 

With a quick glance around, Scylla noted the wreckage of the office, the windows shattered in and the papers scattered everywhere. There were cracks splitting through the wall, and the bodies of the guards were sprawled across the floor. 

She stood abruptly when she noticed Bellweather standing up from behind the desk. Raelle followed her gaze, sensing her alarm. Seeing Petra Bellweather standing there, still holding the knife, she growled. 

Petra shakily lifted the blade to her lips, and before Scylla could yell at her to stop, she spoke. “Come to me.” 

There was a terrifying moment of silence as Scylla stared at Raelle in concern and fear. 

But after a few seconds, Scylla could still clearly feel Raelle’s rage and motion at the other end of the bond. 

Scylla released a sigh of relief. It had worked. Raelle was really free. For good. 

Petra gave them a wide-eyed look, and Raelle gave her a wolfish grin, her eyes narrowed in anger. 

Both her and Scylla approached the desk, radiating with rage. Scylla knew that they were probably a terrifying sight, she could feel the power flowing off of the both of them. She noticed Raelle’s eyes glowing blue with energy, and she knew that her eyes were probably doing the same. 

“Tell them to release our unit.” Raelle said with a raspy voice. Her words left no room for compromise. “Now.” 

Petra hesitated for a second, glancing between both of them. Raelle’s eyes flashed a brighter blue as she growled a warning. 

Petra grit her teeth, reaching into her pocket and retrieving her scry.

“Release the prisoners.” she spoke into the reflection, not looking away from Raelle and Scylla. 

“Ma’am?” came the confused reply.

Scylla narrowed her eyes at the woman, giving her a threatening look. 

“You heard me.” Petra said after a few seconds’ pause. “Release them.” 

She abruptly set down the scry, and Raelle fixed her with a cold glare. “What’s your plan now?” Petra asked. Outwardly, she seemed perfectly collected, but Scylla could see her clenched jaw and tense posture. She was on edge. 

“We wait for my unit.” Raelle responded. Her voice was cold and angry. Scylla subtly reached over and grabbed her hand, never looking away from the General. 

Petra nodded, glancing down at their grasped hands. “No strengthening spell?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “How’d you release her?” 

Scylla didn’t answer, only grit her teeth and remained silent. 

“Fine,” Petra said, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t tell me.” 

Silence consumed the room as they waited, and Scylla could feel Raelle’s growing agitation over the bond. She was quickly becoming restless. That probably wasn’t good news for Petra, considering her current position. 

“Why’d you do all this?” Raelle asked suddenly. 

Petra sighed. “To gain the respect of my community by becoming a leader-” 

“No.” Raelle interrupted. “Why did you dig up that knife? Why’d you hunt down my unit? Why did you capture your own daughter? Why did you do  _ all this? _ Because I know it’s not any of that bullshit about gaining respect.” 

Petra stilled. Her face remained unchanged, but Scylla could see she was a bit thrown off by Raelle’s questions.

“Because you’re powerful.” Petra answered after a moment. “You both are. And with that soulmate bond of yours, you’re both unstoppable. I need that kind of power.” 

Scylla resisted the urge to scowl, sensing Raelle’s anger at the woman. 

“I was working on ways we could utilize both of you, but I was willing to settle for just you, Collar, for the time being.” 

There was a moment of silence after Petra answered. Raelle could feel herself becoming heated. “You mean to tell me,” she said, too calmly. “That you were going to do this to Scylla, too?” She motioned to her stomach, where Scylla knew the rune lay.

Petra clearly didn’t have any survival instincts, it seemed. She gave Raelle a quick look, narrowing her eyes in a silent challenge before nodding. “Yes.” she answered simply. 

Scylla could cut the tension with a knife. 

A crack sounded throughout the room, and Scylla looked up to see that a large spider web pattern had formed in the ceiling. She looked over at Raelle, feeling her simmering rage and noticing the hard clench of her jaw and how tightly she squeezed her hand.

Pushing aside her own anger, Scylla tried her best to calm her girlfriend, not wanting Petra to be killed before their unit could show up. 

As if on cue, the door burst open, and the unit flooded in, looking a bit weary and injured, but still prepared for a battle. 

“Raelle?” Tally asked, fear coating her voice. 

Raelle turned, her blue eyes softening as she noticed her sisters. 

Without another word, she ran towards them, wrapping them in tight hugs and rapidly whispering desperate apologies under her breath. 

They easily returned her hugs, reassuring her that it was fine, that  _ they _ were fine, before Raelle retracted and glanced over at Anacostia. 

Anacostia gave her a meaningful look, nodding her head at the girl. Raelle gave her a small smile, launching herself towards the woman and wrapping her arms around her in a warm hug. 

“Thank you.” She whispered to the Sergeant, squeezing tighter as Anacostia hesitantly hugged her back.

The Sergeant gave her a warm smile as she pulled back, unshed tears shining in Raelle’s eyes.

Before they could talk more, the sound of Petra Bellweather clearing her throat sounded through the room. “What a touching reunion.” she said, giving them a mocking smile. “But what is your plan, now? You’ve just taken the General of the entire base hostage, and all the witches are under my orders to keep me safe.” 

Anacostia turned, giving her a hard look. “I’m sure they won’t feel the same way when we expose you for being the leader of the Spree and enslaving and torturing your soldiers just as Alder did. On top of that, you delayed Alder’s trial for nearly 9 months. Believe me, I don’t think you’ll stay in power very long,  _ General. _ ” 

Petra’s expression remained unchanged, but Abigail could see that she was unsettled. “You have no proof.” she said, her voice strong. 

Scylla let loose a disbelieving laugh. “No proof?” she asked incredulously. “Raelle is literally living proof of what a terrible person you are. We also have Alder still locked up in the cell under the base, Abigail can testify that her mom had a discussion with the redheaded Spree agent who kidnapped my girlfriend, and I’m sure that redheaded bitch herself is hiding around here somewhere. She’ll probably throw you under the bus with little to no persuasion on our part.” 

Petra swallowed. 

“So, yeah.” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’d say we have plenty of proof.” 

Another crack suddenly formed on the opposite wall as Scylla grit her teeth, barely controlling her rage at the woman.

“Where is she?” Abigail asked, ignoring the crack. 

“Who?” Petra asked, ears still focused on an angry Scylla. 

“The redhead.” Abigail said, as if it was obvious. “Where is she?” 

“Oh, Jessica,” Petra said, finally glancing over at her daughter. “I believe she’s paying a visit to her old friend.” 

Anacostia narrowed her eyes and stepped towards the General. “ _ What _ old friend?” she spat threateningly. 

Petra laughed a little, fixing Anacostia with a smug look. “Sarah Alder, of course.” 

Anacostia’s eyes widened, and she immediately turned to her unit. The girls were looking back at her with equally alarmed gazes. 

“Collar, Ramshorn, Bellweather,” Anacostia addressed immediately, pointing towards the door. “Go back to Alder’s cell and find out what’s going on. Don’t let her escape, under any circumstances.” 

The girls nodded before sprinting out the door. 

“Craven, help me with our General.” Anacosita said, turning back towards Petra and giving her a hard glare. 

Petra smiled back at her. “Oh, Sergeant, I wouldn’t worry about Alder getting away anytime soon.” she said, as if she knew something they didn’t. “I doubt she’ll be going anywhere.” 

Anacostia narrowed her eyes but ultimately ignored the woman, motioning for Tally to hold her down while she grabbed some cuffs from a fallen guard. 

Locking them around her wrist and then finding a silencer hidden on one of the guards, she finished restraining Bellweather, giving her a hard look as she retreated. 

Bellweather simply smiled at her, looking unaffected by her bindings. “I do hope your girls get there in time.” she said. 

Anacostia clenched her jaw. “Explain.” she ordered. 

“Oh, it’s just that Jessica was rather angry at Sarah last time I checked, and I doubt she would let anyone stop her from getting her revenge against the woman.” 

Anacostia exchanged glances with an agitated Tally. 

She nodded, and immediately, Tally took off out the door, chasing down her unit mates. 

Petra laughed. “She’s not going to get there in time.” she insisted, raising her eyebrows. “By the time your girls get to that cell, Sarah Alder will be dead.” 

* * *

Tally eventually caught up with the unit, just as they were reaching the entrance to the prison. 

They gave her a confused look as she stopped beside them, breathing heavily from her sprint. “Alder,” Tally said, trying her best to catch her breath. “Going to die.” 

“ _ What?”  _ Abigail asked, looking at her sister with wide eyes. 

Tally said nothing, simply waving towards the entrance, already running towards the door. 

The unit followed, and together, they descended into the prison. They ran through the familiar dark hallways, navigating the twisting corridors despite the confusing layout.

Eventually, they were again faced with the door that led to their previous cell. The unit exchanged glances, Tally hesitating for only a moment before pushing open the door and bursting into the room. 

The scene that greeted them was...unsettling. 

The Biddies were kneeling against the ground, their eyes filled with tears as they wailed for Alder. In front of the crying women, the unit could see a flash red hair peek through the bars of the cell. 

They cautiously approached the cell doors, the redhead seemingly ignoring them completely. 

Gazing within the cell, the unit balked at what they found. 

The redhead was laughing slightly, kneeling over the broken and bloody body of Sarah Alder. 

She looked back at them with crazed eyes, her face splattered with the blood of her victim. Making eye contact with Raelle, she grinned. “I killed her for you.” she said, as if Raelle would be grateful. 

Raelle could only stare at the woman in shock, glancing between her and Alder’s destroyed body. The once-strong General was barely recognizable, her face beaten and bloodied. Looking closer, Raelle could still see the silencer strapped around her neck. 

She barely had any way to defend herself from the redhead. 

At once, Raelle felt an overwhelming feeling of anger flooding through her as she met the redhead’s gaze. However, she was startled to note that it wasn’t her own anger that was washing over her. 

She looked over at Scylla in concern, only to find that her girlfriend was barely in control. Her body was tensed in anger, her jaw clenched, and her eyes narrowed, She looked between Raelle and Jessica, releasing an inaudible growl that only Raelle noticed. 

The unit was still transfixed at the sight of Alder’s body, looking down at the scene in horror. 

The redhead still seemed unaffected. “I killed her for you.” she repeated, frowning a bit at Raelle’s unsettled reaction. “I killed her for you and my sister. For the rune.” 

Raelle narrowed her eyes in confusion, but before she could ask what the woman meant, Scylla’s anger became overwhelming, consuming her completely. 

Before Raelle could stop her girlfriend, Scylla released an animalistic cry, launching herself at the woman and tackling her to the ground next to Alder’s corpse. 

“You bitch!” Scylla screamed as she lay into the woman, landing blow after blow against the woman’s face. 

Strangely, Jessica didn’t struggle at all, and Scylla only got angrier when she seemed to be smiling in between her strikes. 

Scylla could do nothing but scream in anger as she struck the woman over and over. Distantly, she could hear her unit yelling at her to calm down, to stop, to  _ think _ . She could even feel Raelle’s alarm and worry over the bond. 

But that only made her angry. This woman had  _ tortured  _ Raelle. She had taken away her free will. And on top of that, even after Raelle was free, she haunted her nightmares for months on end. Jessica had done irreversible damage to the girl she loved, and Scylla was _pissed_ _. _

Through her bloodlust, Scylla could feel hands gripping her arms, tearing her away from Jessica’s limp and bloody body. She struggled against them, vision still tinted red. She tore her arms away, intent on resuming her beating, but then a face appeared in front of hers. 

She stared into Raelle’s eyes, blinking slightly as she remembered where she was. 

“Hey,” Raelle said softly, gripping both her shoulders, as if trying to ground her. “Hey, you with me?” 

Scylla blinked, taking a deep breath. She felt Tally and Abigail’s hands resting against her back as Raelle spoke. Suddenly, a wave of calm spread over her, and she looked up at Raelle. 

“You feel that?” Raelle asked, squeezing her shoulder. “I’m right here, Scyl. I’m okay.” 

Scylla sighed, finally looking up at Raelle with full clarity. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, glancing down at the motionless form of the redhead. 

“No, hey,” Raelle said, grabbing Scylla’s chin and forcing Scylla to look at her. “You’re fine. It’s okay. You lost control, it happens to all of us.” 

Scylla nodded, swallowing hard as Tally and Abigail gave her reassuring pats.

“Tally and I’ll take care of all this.” Abigail said from behind her. “We’ll meet you guys back at the office. We can talk to Anacostia and sort this all out.” 

Raelle glanced away from her for a second to nod before she stood up from her crouch, holding out a hand to help Scylla up as well. Scylla sighed, taking her hand and allowing her to lead her out of the prison. Raelle wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked beside her towards the door. 

Scylla didn’t look at the screaming Biddies or Alder’s body as they left. 

She definitely didn’t look at Jessica’s limp, bloodied form sprawled across the ground. 

Raelle pushed open the door, and all Scylla could feel was the blood drying all over her knuckles. 

* * *

The next few hours passed in a blur. 

Raelle and Scylla returned to the office, finding Petra and Anacostia waiting. Raelle explained the situation while Scylla took a seat in the corner. Raelle joined her after a moment. Anacostia was already on the phone with the Commander in Chief, preparing to explain everything. 

Tally and Abigail joined them shortly thereafter, a crazed Jessica dragged between the two of them. She was cuffed, with a silencer around her neck, and she had a sick smile on her face as she was thrown down next to Petra. 

She made eye contact with Scylla, her face beaten and bloody from Scylla’s beating, and she smirked. 

Scylla clenched her jaw and looked away, gripping Raelle’s hand hard. To her credit, Raelle kept it together pretty well considering the circumstances. She did her best to comfort Scylla and stay calm, tuning out Anacostia’s explanation to the president. 

Before she knew it, she was being pulled from her thoughts by a hand shaking her shoulder. 

Abigail was motioning for her to stand, looking over at Anacostia, who was waiting expectantly at the door. She and Tally had tight grips on the arms of both Jessica and Petra. 

Raelle sighed, turning and helping up Scylla. 

They walked out of the office and towards a large car parked in front of the building. 

This time, Raelle didn’t hesitate before getting into the parked vehicle, pulling Scylla in after her. They were quickly joined by the rest of the unit, as well as Anacostia and their prisoners. 

Even with the spacious area in the backseat of the car, Raelle felt too close to the redhead for comfort. Being near the woman was like a test. Would she run? Would she punch the woman in the face? Or would she sit calmly and do nothing despite her racing heart?

Scylla gripped her hand tighter, noticing her agitation. Raelle didn’t look at her, keeping her eyes trained solely on the floor, but she smiled slightly, squeezing Scylla's hand in return. 

“Where are we going?” Tally asked, grabbing the attention of everyone in the car. 

Anacostia took a deep breath. “We’re meeting the President at the council building.” she told them. 

Silence consumed the car. “What’s going to happen?” Raelle eventually broke it. 

Anacostia looked over at her, glancing at Jessica and Petra, who were sitting quietly, seemingly unbothered. “I’m not sure, Collar.” she answered. 

A tension seemed to stay in the car for the rest of the ride, everyone remaining silent. 

After roughly twenty minutes, the car finally came to a stop in front of a set of familiar wooden doors. 

Raelle swallowed as everyone piled out of the car, Abigail and Anacostia dragging their prisoners from the backseat with relatively little struggle. Making their way to the front door, there was no need for a secret knock this time around. The doors swung open in a wide arc as soon as Anacostia stepped foot on the stone staircase in front of the doorway. 

The walk to the office was familiar, yet it held none of the same nervous energy and wonder at the decor. 

Instead, the walk was weighed down with exhaustion and dread. There was no fidgeting, or rapid glances around the interior. The unit just stared straight ahead, eyes focused on the path in front of them. 

Scylla and Raelle still grasped hands as they walked into the large office, faced once again with the long table full of councilmembers. 

They stared at the unit as they approached the table. There was none of the same organization and order that the unit had the first time they were in this room. There was no point. 

Anacostia cleared her throat, shoving Petra and Jessica onto the floor in front of the council members. “Madam President,” she addressed, looking at the center of the table. 

Raelle blinked when she noticed the president. It was odd, she had been expecting such an opposing presence for such a powerful woman. In reality, she was rather small and ordinary-looking. 

Although, as she examined the woman a bit closer, she noticed the air of confidence and boldness that surrounded the woman. She held herself as if she was the most important woman in the room, which she usually was. 

“Sergeant Quartermaine.” the President addressed, her voice echoing through the large room. “The story you have told me is...shocking.” 

The council members nodded, their eyes narrowed. Clearly they had their own doubts about Anacostia’s report. 

“Shocking, yes,” the Sergeant answered. “But true, nonetheless.”

The President raised an eyebrow. “I assume you have a measure of proof, Sergeant?”

Anacostia nodded. “The soldiers in my unit will testify before a judge if they must.” she answered motioning back towards the unit. “In addition, we have a leading Spree agent in our custody, as well as the original founder of the Spree.” 

The President nodded, still looking a bit skeptical. “Private Collar.” she addressed suddenly, turning towards the blonde. Raelle’s stomach dropped as the woman faced her, having an idea of what she would ask for. 

Scylla let go of her hand but sent her a feeling of reassurance as Ralle stepped forward. “Yes, Madam President?” she said, hands behind her back and head turned downward in respect. 

“I understand you were...under the influence of a certain rune that Bellweather used to control you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes skeptically. 

Raelle swallowed and nodded. 

“If you could please show us the rune,” the president continued. “That would do a lot to convince some of us who are still a bit skeptical about all of this.” 

Raelle breathed a sigh, her hand creeping towards the front of her shirt to lift it up. 

“Excuse me,” Anacostia’s voice interrupted. “I’m not sure why this would be necessary, Madam President. Private Collar had already shown the rune to the members of this very same council after last year’s events.” 

The President sighed. “Private Collar, I have not seen the rune.” she admitted. “And, as I am not a witch, having visual proof is more beneficial towards convincing me of magic such as this.”

Raelle nodded, glancing over at Anacostia to indicate that she was fine. 

She raised her shirt, the fabric brushing slightly against her abdomen as she lifted it. The image of the rune was revealed to the council as Raelle exposed her pale stomach. 

The raised scars of the rune were still clearly visible on Raelle’s skin, and she swallowed hard at the President’s barely concealed horror. 

“Thank you, Private Collar, that’s enough.” she said after a few moments. Raelle sighed as she let go of the fabric, dropping the shirt over her scars once again. “So this rune was used to control you, with the help of a knife, as I understand it?” 

Raelle nodded. “Yes.” she replied.

Anacostia took the cue, retrieving the knife from her pocket and approaching the President. 

Raelle instantly stepped back, looking down and rejoining Scylla. She immediately reached out, grabbing Scylla’s hand and taking comfort in the calm feelings she projected. 

The President looked down at the knife with a mixture of fascination and fear. As she reached out to grab it, Anacostia immediately retracted her hand. “I hope you understand my hesitation towards giving this to anyone outside of this unit, Madame President.” 

The President sniffed, pulling her hand away. “Of course, Sergeant.” she replied. 

She turned her attention to the prisoners on the ground. “Petra,” she addressed. “What do you have to say in defense of yourself?” 

Petra released a quiet laugh, looking up at the woman. “It’s all a lie, Madame President.” she said, gritting her teeth. “I have done no such thing, especially to a member of my own daughter’s unit.” 

“Cut the bullshit, mother.” Abigail interrupted, stepping forward and facing President Wade. “Ma’am, I assure you, everything the Sergeant has told you is absolutely true. Take it from me. My mother is a criminal.” 

Petra scowled, looking downward. 

The President sighed. “And you?” she asked, turning towards Jessica. 

The woman looked up at the President with a grim smile. “It’s all true, Madame President.” she said nonchalantly. “I carved the rune into Collar myself. I intended to use her to take Alder out of office, just as Petra Bellweather ordered me to.” 

Petra clenched her jaw, glaring daggers at the woman beside her. Jessica paid her no mind, continuing to address the President with an increasingly crazed grin. 

“It worked. Oh, it worked.” she said with a laugh. “They took down Alder, and I was finally free to get my revenge on that scum of a woman. Finally.” 

The President narrowed her eyes. “Alder?” she asked. “What was your business with her?” 

Jessica’s eyes abruptly darkened. “ _ Sarah Alder _ ,” she spat. “Is the reason my sister is dead.” 

The room was completely still. 

“She used the exact same rune on her.” she said, uncharacteristically subdued. “She carved the rune into her stomach and enslaved my sister for  _ years.  _ By the time she was finally released, her mind couldn’t handle the stress. She killed herself a week later.” 

Raelle choked a bit, grabbing Scylla’s hand tighter. 

“I decided, what better revenge than using the rune on one of her own soldiers? Even further, the rune ended up being her very downfall. What could be better revenge than that?”

The President swallowed. 

“Very well,” she said, turning to face a reeling Anacostia. “It would seem that your story holds true.” 

She motioned for the two guards stationed by the door. “Take them to the dungeon.” she ordered. “Make sure they’re secured. We’ll decide what to do with them later.” 

Raelle kept her eyes focused on the floor as Petra and Jessica were dragged from the room. 

Anacosta stepped forward. “Ma’am, if we could discuss the future of Fort Salem?” she asked. “Who will take Petra’s place?” 

The President seemed to hesitate, while a council member immediately spoke up. The man gave Anacostia a condescending look. “As always, Sergeant Quartermaine, it will be the responsibility of the council to decide on a new leader.” 

Anacostia narrowed her eyes. “Of course,” she said, forcing herself to be polite. “It’s just that the council’s past decisions haven’t exactly been ideal.” 

The council member scowled at her. “Our decisions shouldn’t concern you, Sergeant-” 

“On the contrary, David,” the President interrupted, lifting her hand to silence him. “It is exactly Sergeant Quartermaine’s concern, considering that the last two leaders of Fort Salem have both been power-hungry and corrupt.” 

David opened his mouth to protest, and Scylla couldn’t resist the smirk that crossed her face at the glare the President sent his way. “ _ Enough,  _ David.” she said. 

Anacostia nodded at her, eyebrows raised. “Madame President,” she asked. “What should be our next course of action?” 

The President sighed, looking down at the woman. “I would think our next decision should be obvious, Sergeant.” she replied. 

Anacostia gave her a questioning look. 

“You should be the one to take over Fort Salem and lead our military.” 

The room was silent for a moment. 

Then the council exploded. Numerous council members stood, loudly voicing their disagreement. 

“Madame President, I highly suggest that you rethink this decision-” a woman to the right called, while David himself gave the president a disbelieving look. “Ma’am,” he said, gritting his teeth. “This is a poor course of action, the council would normally select one of our own to take this position-” 

“And that is exactly the problem, David.” the President replied, clenching her jaw. “This council is clearly not fit to decide on the future of the military, considering how your choices have turned out in the past.” 

She turned her attention to a shell-shocked Anacostia still standing in front of her unit. 

“Sergeant Anacostia has been true to her morals throughout all of these events.” the President said. “She has done her absolute best to defend the honor of the military, and protect the members of her unit. She has shown consistent dedication to her job, doing the most to actively combat the Spree when no one else would.” 

Anacostia blinked a little, glancing back at her unit, who all had small smiles spread across their face. 

“There is no better choice.” The President finished. “Sergeant Quartermaine?” 

Anacostia immediately looked up at the woman, bowing her head slightly in respect. 

“Come tomorrow, you will be General Quartermaine.” President Wade said, a small smile on her face. “You will take charge of all our military operations and you will be responsible for taking care of the leftover Spree cells still spread around the globe.” 

Anacostia blinked, glancing up at the woman. “Madame President, while I appreciate your kind words, are you positive that there is no better candidate-” 

“Are you questioning my judgement, Sergeant?” the President interrupted, her gaze sharp. 

“No, ma’am, never.” Anacostia answered immediately. 

“Then make sure you pay attention to my national address tomorrow.” the President said. “I will announce your promotion, as well as Petra's corruption.” 

Anacostia stepped back, saluting the woman and giving her a respectful nod. 

“Good luck, Anacostia.” President Wade said. “You’re the best woman for the job, no doubt about it.” 

Anacostia nodded, glancing back at the girls still standing behind her. 

“Yes, you will still be allowed to keep your unit,” President Wade answered before Anacostia even asked. “From what you’ve told me, they are highly efficient at their jobs. It would be illogical to take them from their Sergeant, even if she is becoming a General.” 

Anacostia finally allowed a smile to cross her face, her eyes shining with pride at her unit. “Thank you, Madame President.” 

“Of course.” Wade said, giving them a nod. “I will stay with the council and we will discuss when the trials will take place. I’m not letting this go on for another year before we decide to deal with these criminals.”

She gave a pointed look to the council members, clearly displeased at how they had handled Alder’s situation. 

The council members gave the unit dirty looks as they left the building, unsatisfied with how the meeting had gone. 

The unit and Anacostia couldn’t be more content. Finally, they didn’t have to worry about another power-hungry leader in their lives. They were free. 

The ride back to the Fort was much lighter. The unit laughed and smiled wide as they congratulated Anacostia on her promotion. Anacostia herself still seemed shocked, as if she couldn’t believe it. 

“Sarge,” Abigail said, grabbing the woman’s soldier and giving her a sincere smile. “You’ll do great. You’re clearly the best person for the job.” 

The unit nodded in agreement as Anacostia looked around the car, eyebrows raised. 

“Couldn’t ask for a better General,” Scylla said with a nod at the woman. 

“Thank you,” Anacostia spoke, a proud smile on her face. “I couldn’t ask for a better unit, girls.” 

A weight was lifted off their shoulders as the car drove back to the base. 

It was finally, truly, over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, it's finally over. Lots of work, ngl. I'll probably post a little epilogue eventually, so i guess it's not completely over, but this is essentially the ending.
> 
> Thanks so much for the support!! Loved reading your comments throughout the whole thing and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read my bullshit!! I hope you enjoyed, drop me a comment and let me know what you think!!


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beach fluff!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a while, I was busy with AP exams :(

They finally had their day on the beach. 

It was a beautiful day, nearly a month after everything happened, that the unit finally convinced Anacostia to let them take a day off. 

It took plenty of bargaining and promising that they would be safe and that there would be no Spree waiting for them on the beach. And, if there were, they could totally handle them. 

Anacostia finally conceded when they brought up the fact that they had been training and going on missions nonstop lately. 

With Anacostia taking charge of Fort Salem, it was important that she make big moves to take down the remaining Spree cells around the world. Unfortunately, that meant that the unit was constantly on missions and covert operations to neutralize many Spree fortresses. It was nice that they were finally working together as a unit in an official capacity, but everyone was tired. They had gone from being on the run from crazed Spree operatives to returning to Fort Salem and hunting down rogue Spree agents in the space of a week. 

It was just a lot.

Raelle had eventually gotten ahold of her dad, though. She called him and explained everything, tearfully insisting that she was fine, that he didn’t have anything to worry about. Edwin had very much disagreed, but he begrudgingly let it go with the promise that he would visit Fort Salem in a couple days. Raelle had smiled and agreed. It would be nice to see her Pa without the threat of death or capture looming over them. 

Regardless, the unit was still exhausted and spread thin because of all the missions they had taken on over the past few weeks.

This was the only reason Anacostia agreed to let them go off-base for the day. She made them promise that they wouldn’t do anything stupid or reckless, and that they would check in with her every so often to confirm that they hadn’t been killed or captured. 

It might have been a bit overkill, but the Bellweather unit tended to attract trouble with little to no effort on their parts. 

Anacostia assured them that it was purely precautionary. She didn’t want her best unit compromised because they wanted to have a beach day. 

(It definitely wasn’t because she was a bit worried. Definitely not.)

Anacostia allowed them to take one of the base jeeps and head down to the beach about a half an hour away. The unit thanked her profusely, already halfway out the door as soon as she said yes. 

The General sighed. Those girls were going to be the end of her. 

As soon as Abigail pulled over and parked along the sand, Tally had already jumped from the car, hauling a backpack behind her as she ran to the water. 

The unit laughed as they watched Tally step a toe in the water before abruptly jumping back. Clearly, it was colder than she expected. 

The unit unloaded their towels and beach supplies, joining Tally after a few moments. 

Raelle sighed and smiled at the feeling on the sand on her toes. Glancing over at Scylla, her eyes shining a bright blue in the sunlight, she grinned.

She felt lighter than she had in months. 

Scylla grabbed her hand, pulling her into the water despite the chill. 

Raelle shrieked as the water passed her knees, struggling against Scylla’s grip, but it was no use. Scylla, seemingly unbothered by the cold water, pulled  Raelle into the waves, laughing loudly as Raelle gasped. 

“Scylla!” she screamed as her girlfriend pulled her farther out into the depths. 

Eventually, Raelle got used to the freezing water, holding hands with Scylla as they fished for seashells in the sand below. 

Scylla wouldn’t admit it, but she did yelp a little when her ankle brushed some seaweed. (She shrieked. Raelle cackled.) 

They stayed in the water for a while, simply enjoying the feeling of the waves and competing to find the best seashell. Raelle argued that she had found it within the first fifteen minutes, but Scylla was adamant that the shell she found after thirty minutes of searching was a much better find. 

Tally and Abigail stayed on the beach, Abigail forcing Tally to put on a bit of sunscreen before they started playing volleyball. 

Obviously, Abigail got extremely competitive, destroying Tally within minutes. 

Tally scowled, calling for help from Raelle and Scylla, but they were too busy making out in the middle of the water. 

“Ewwww,” Tally and Abigail both muttered as they looked over at the couple. 

They continued in their game, and, much to Tally’s displeasure, Abigail continued to win over and over again. 

Finally, Tally gave up, tossing the volleyball to the side and moving towards the edge of the sand to start working on a sand castle. Abigail huffed, calling her a sore loser and bouncing around the volleyball by herself. 

Scylla and Raelle finally waded out of the water, laughing as they reached the sand and set down two towels to lay on. 

They tanned for a bit, and Scylla couldn’t help but stare as Raelle stretched out across the towel with a sigh, closing her eyes as she soaked up the sun. She wore only a sports bra and a pair of swim shorts, and Scylla felt her mouth become dry as she looked Raelle up and down. 

“Creeper.” Raelle said with a grin, her eyes still closed. 

Scylla scowled, laying back against the towel and closing her eyes as well. She could feel Raelle’s amusement through the bond, and she frowned. She projected her irritation clearly over and Raelle let loose a laugh, propping herself up on one arm to look at her girlfriend. 

Scylla could feel her irritation begin to fade as she felt Raelle’s eyes wondering over her form as well. Raelle’s amusement was rapidly turning into attraction. 

Smirking, Scylla glanced over at her girlfriend, opening one eye. “Who’s the creeper now?” she asked with a grin. 

“Still you,” Raelle answered with a shameless grin. Without warning, she leaned over and gave Scylla a kiss, a content smile spread across her face as she did so. 

Scylla smiled back, a warm feeling blooming in her chest. There was nowhere she’d rather be.

Just as she was leaning over to deepen the kiss, they were interrupted by Tally’s yells. 

“Abigail!” she cried. “How could you?” 

Raelle and Scylla sat up, raising their eyebrows at the scene before them. A volleyball lay where Tally’s perfect sand castle had once been, and Abigail was running over, looking both extremely guilty and terrified. 

“I’m sorry, Tal!” she said, leaning down beside Tally and lifting the volleyball from the ruins of the castle. “I’ll help you build a new one?”

Tally looked as if she was about to cry, shaking her head. “It won’t be the same.” she said. 

Raelle snorted a bit, drawing a sharp look from Scylla. Raelle choked a bit as she felt Scylla’s disapproval, and she gave her an apologetic shrug. “What?” she asked. “I’m just saying, it’s kind of funny that Tally has quite literally taken down multiple terrorist cells, as well as the founder of the entire Spree, and she looks like she’s about to cry over a sand castle.” 

Scylla raised an eyebrow, slapping her girlfriend lightly on the arm before pushing herself off the ground, walking over to where Tally and Abigail were beginning to argue.

Raelle scrambled after her, catching up just as she reached the pair. 

“Here, Tal,” Scylla said, grabbing a bucket. “I’ll help you make a new one.” 

Tally smiled and nodded, throwing a heated glare at Abigail as she walked over to pick up some wet sand. 

“What about me?” Raelle whined as her girlfriend began to pile some sand into a small bucket. 

Scylla glanced over her shoulder with a wicked smile. “ _You_ get to play volleyball with Abigail.” she said, a knowing glint in her eye. 

Raelle’s eyes widened in fear, turning to find Abigail giving her a smug grin as she twirled the volleyball between her hands. “What?” Abigail asked. “Scared?” 

Raelle’s face morphed into one of determination as she approached Abigail and grabbed the volleyball. “Never.” she said, returning a grin of her own. “Hope you’re up for a challenge, Bellweather.” 

“Whatever you say, Shitbird.” 

* * *

Apparently, Raelle was not built to play volleyball. 

Despite her very best efforts, she landed on her ass every time she tried to hit the ball, much to both Abigail and Scylla’s amusement.

Needless to say, Abigail won many rounds before Raelle finally called it quits.

Raelle grumbled as she threw the volleyball to the side, pointedly ignoring Abigail’s cackles as she marched back towards her towel. 

“Aw, you upset, babe?” Scylla’s voice came from her left as she sat down on the towel next to hers. 

“Don't talk to me, traitor,” Raelle said, not looking at her girlfriend, focusing instead on the sand surrounding her. 

“Aw, don’t be upset,” Scylla pleaded with a laugh, leaning over and giving Raelle a small hug. “I just needed to distract Abigail while I helped Tally.” 

Raelle kept the scowl on her face, but she begrudgingly leaned into Scylla’s grasp, sighing. “Whatever.” she muttered. 

Scylla grinned at her as Raelle finally looked up. “Do you want to do something fun?” she asked, a devious smile on her face.

Raelle narrowed her eyes. “What’re you suggesting?” 

Scylla simply smiled, standing from the towel and pulling Raelle along with her. “Come with me.” she said, already dragging her girlfriend further down the surf. 

“Where are you taking me?” Raelle said with a laugh as Scylla tugged her along. 

Scylla didn’t answer, glancing back at Raelle with a gleam in her eye. 

They walked for a while longer, eventually reaching the very end of the beach. Looking behind them, Raelle noticed that Abigail and Tally were barely visible in the distance. She took a quick look at their surroundings as Scylla grabbed something from her bag, dropping to the ground. 

They were in a much more secluded area of the beach, she noticed. It was quieter, and the waves seemed to be much calmer. Raelle took a deep breath as she smelled the salty air. Glancing over, she noted the large wall of rock in front of them, abruptly cutting off the surf and preventing anyone from going any further. 

“Tie your leg to the end of this rope.” Scylla said suddenly, looking up at Raelle with a knowing smile. 

Raelle looked down at her set up, laughing a little as she took a similar sight. 

Scylla was already looping the rope around her ankle, and taking a tin of salva from her bag. Two stakes were fixed into the sand, and Scylla glanced up at her as she finished tying her rope, giving her an expectant look. 

“This feels familiar,” Raelle said with a smile as she began tying her foot to the end of the rope as well.

“I can’t imagine why,” Scylla replied as she handed a dose of salva to her girlfriend. 

Raelle chuckled, taking the salva as Scylla placed a dose on her own neck. “I think you’re running out of date ideas, Scyl,” she teased, pressing the small patch against her neck. 

Scylla shrugged as her eyes began to glow a light silver, fixing Raelle with a meaningful look. 

Raelle could only stare in amazement as the girl lifted in the air. She felt the salva buzzing in her own system, and suddenly all she wanted to do was get to Scylla. 

As if being pulled, Raelle drifted upwards after her girlfriend. She sighed in amazement at the feeling of flying once again, Scylla laughing in front of her and reaching her hand out for Raelle to grab. 

Raelle wasted no time, smiling as she linked her fingers with Scylla’s, laughing as Scylla pulled her closer. 

“I think,” Scylla muttered, touching her forehead against Raelle’s, knitting both their hands together. “I could stay up here with you forever.” 

Raelle released a breath, humming in agreement and closing her eyes at the thought. 

She smiled as Scylla kissed her, her hand reaching up to cup her cheek as she leaned in. Raelle melted into her touch, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest. 

She could feel Scylla’s contentment, her love, the same warm feeling flowing through her, and Raelle grinned into the kiss. She pulled back, looking at Scylla with shining eyes. “I love you, Scyl.” she said, her voice cracking a little. 

Scylla returned her smile. “I love you too, Rae.” 

They kissed again, basking in the feeling of being so close together, drifting above the ground and never wishing to come back down. 

When the salva finally wore off and they drifted back down to the sand, still embracing tightly, Raelle pulled away, giving Scylla a grin. “I bet Anacostia wouldn’t approve.” she said, chuckling as Scylla rolled her eyes. 

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” she replied, leaning down to untie the rope. 

Raelle released a loud laugh as she followed her down to the sand, working on releasing her own leg. “Whatever you say, Scyl.” 

Scylla gave her a pointed look, standing and shoving the rope back in the bag, along with the stakes and the tin of salva. 

Raelle raised her hands in surrender, a smile still drawn across her face as Scylla rolled her eyes again and grabbed her wrist. “C’mon, stupid,” she said, fondness creeping into her tone. “We’re going to miss the sunset.” 

* * *

They made it back to Tally and Abigail just as the sun was beginning to lower over the horizon. 

“There you guys are!” Abigail called, waving from a towel set out next to Raelle’s. Tally peeked out from behind Abigail, face brightening. “C’mon, you’re going to miss it!” 

Raelle and Scylla waved back, walking over to them and taking a seat on Raelle’s towel from earlier, settling between their two unit partners.

Scylla leaned back into Raelle as they gazed across the water, transfixed by the beautiful sunset. 

Scylla absentmindedly grabbed Raelle’s hand, squeezing it tightly as they watched. Raelle could feel the love washing over the bond, and she knew that Scylla was feeling the same from her end.

Raelle squeezed Scylla’s hand tighter, glancing over at Abigail and Tally, a small, content smile appearing on her face. 

She couldn’t have asked for a better unit. 

Raelle was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for sticking around through this whole thing!! I really appreciate the support, and I hope you enjoyed reading!!


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